The Arrows of Eros
by PersonOfAwesome
Summary: Percy and Annabeth have been together for years, content and happy. But what happens when a greater force starts interfering in this once-perfect relationship? And that greater force might just be a part of them.
1. Chapter 1

Annabeth's stormy eyes matched the sky outside her rain-streaked window. Her bored eyes followed the raindrops as they rushed to join the others that were already collected on the bottom of the window pane.

She sighed – perhaps for the fiftieth time now.

Annabeth was waiting. She had been waiting for a while now, sitting on her windowsill, attempting to read a mystifyingly complicated book on philosophy, whose words seemed to elude her brain. She had given up on the book about twenty minutes ago, when the first thunderous roar had startled her from her confused reverie. Since then, she had been glancing at the wall clock repeatedly, which might have caused time to pass slower that it usually did. She scanned the familiar room again and again, also. It was full of atrocious furniture Annabeth had picked out impatiently, and therefore, not pleasing to look at.

Annabeth let out a long, low sigh, once more, exasperated, tired, bored…annoyed.

She reminded herself that she should be used to this by now, and perhaps shouldn't have gotten ready so early, especially if she knew how distracted and unpunctual Percy was.

But she couldn't help it.

She wanted to see him, to hold him, to look into those sea-green eyes, and tell him, for the millionth time that she loved him. At least, she wanted to do all of this an hour ago. Now…she wasn't so sure.

"Don't think that, Annabeth." She scolded herself, unwillingly glancing at the clock again. "It's not his fault he has a girlfriend who's nearly paranoid about time and punctuality." She had made herself smile, at least slightly.

She continued to sit there, willing herself not to peek at the time, which, in her mind, would only make it worse. "At least he'll be in a good mood." Annabeth said softly, as she watched the lightning streak across the gray skies, paired with the flow of pounding rain. This was his favorite weather. Maybe it would soften the news she was going to give him…assuming he cared at all.

Distracted by the weather and her never-ending thoughts, Annabeth hardly noticed a sleek, black car sidle up to the curb of her apartment. If she had seen it, she would have bolted downstairs, and tackled Percy in the lobby of the apartment building. If she had seen it, he would've never had to come upstairs, fatigued by his day. If she had seen it, perhaps they would have never started the conversation that began the end.

Her doorbell rang suddenly, making her jump up from the windowsill. Just like her, her heart leapt to her throat, making her pulse race. She rushed to the door, making an effort to clean the mess around her home as she did so. It was to little avail. In the end, she simply swung the door open to reveal her boyfriend of several years.

Percy seemed tired, exhausted even, to Annabeth's well-disguised disappointment. All the same, the sight of his tousled black hair, and somewhat vacant green eyes sent excitement through her.

"Hey, sweetie." Annabeth said eagerly, smiling up at him.

He looked down at her, and grinned sleepily. "Hey, Annabeth." He pulled her close with an arm wrapped behind her back, and kissed her softly.

"How've you been?" Annabeth asked when she pulled back, smiling contently.

Percy groaned. "Oh, please, don't get me started." He let go of her suddenly, and entered the apartment, navigating through the mess expertly, even in his state. He plopped onto the uncomfortable couch with a huge sigh. Annabeth's eyes followed him, her eyebrows furrowed. She took the path he had created, and sat next to him on the couch, snuggling up to the completely dry shirt that was stretched across his torso. It smelled of sea air, and the cologne she had gotten him for Christmas.

"Why? What happened?" Annabeth mumbled into his chest.

"Gods, too many things." Percy closed him eyes, and ran his free hand through his hair, a habit he executed often.

"Aw, is college getting to you, Seaweed Brain? It's almost over, just two weeks." Annabeth smirked up at him, and quickly stopped, finding that he wasn't amused.

"Why do you always have to call me that?" Percy stood up, irritated with his girlfriend.

"Oh, come on, Percy, you know I'm kidding." Annabeth stood too, worried and confused.

"It's not like I don't already feel stupid enough with all these college classes, and then my own girlfriend is calling me Seaweed Brain. Have you ever thought about how makes me feel, Annabeth?"

"I've called you Seaweed Brain since we were twelve, Percy. I'm not going to stop now." Annabeth was firing up, her eyes blazing, but relaxed soon, seeing the innocent hurt in his eyes. "It's my special nickname for you."

As another bolt of lightning shot through the clouds, Annabeth turned Percy around, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Well, it's not nice." Percy pouted, attempting to stay angry at his girlfriend, but failing miserably as he leaned in for another, more proper kiss.

"Is this nice?" Annabeth let her lips slide over his gently, smiling into his mouth. She felt him laugh into her lips, as he kissed her back.

"Yes." He whispered.

And here was another moment to add to their book of memories that they would carry forever.

"Why were you late, Percy?" Annabeth asked when they were seated again after a rather dizzying five minutes.

"Grover."

That one word seemed to explain everything. Annabeth laughed. "What happened this time?"

"Gods, I was trying to finish that paper for Biology, and he came barreling through the door, crazed practically – "

"Sounds like Grover." Annabeth slipped in, making Percy grin.

"Well, yeah. He was mumbling something a naiad that stole his shoes, and he had to get home with his hooves exposed and what not."

"Oh, Gods." Annabeth muttered. "I warned him about naiads."

"I know…" Percy agreed, shaking his head. "Well, then I had to abandon my paper and help him find some shoes that fit normally, and he was being all picky and Grover-y."

Annabeth nodded, understanding, but growing bored by the familiar story – things like this happened basically every day.

An unfamiliar beeping noise went off, muffled. Annabeth perked up, as Percy uncomfortably reached into his pocket for his phone. His face fell as he read the lengthy text.

"I'm sorry, Annabeth, but I think we're going to have to cancel today's date." Percy sighed and stood up, leaving Annabeth to collapse onto the couch.

"But – " Annabeth started.

"I'm sorry, but Grover's going crazy about something. He needs me, sweetie." Percy took her hands, and rubbed them softly with his thumbs. He leaned in and kissed her cheek, while Annabeth remained motionless, her eyes empty.

Percy was nearly out of the door, before Annabeth broke the silence with a small, tensed voice.

"And I don't?"

"What?" Percy glanced back, as his hand landed on the doorknob.

"I don't need you?" Annabeth's voice was tiny, but it was no weaker than usual. Her cloudy gray eyes turned icy, as they always did when she was angry.

Percy stood there, one hand caressing his hair confusedly. "Well, Grover –"

"It's always Grover." Annabeth interrupted. "We haven't had a proper date in weeks, Percy."

"But we went out to the movies –"

"Yeah, four weeks ago." Annabeth said loudly, running over Percy's protests. "Percy, I don't know if you don't…don't like me anymore, or if you like to be with Grover more, or…" It was obvious she had been thinking about this for quite a while.

"No, honey, of course not." Percy rushed over to her side, and scrunched until he was at eye level with her. Annabeth avoided his gaze, looking away, her lips pursed together. "Gods, you know I love you so much."

"Well, it'd be nice if you showed it, Percy." Annabeth turned away from him and faced the window that mirrored her.

"Annabeth, understand…my friend's in trouble, and I have to go help him." Percy pleaded to the back of her head, his eyebrows scrunched, his mouth set in a frown.

"Well, I think I have to get away from this for a while." Annabeth said suddenly, whipping around to face him. There were no tears in her eyes, but rather a fire that Percy didn't understand.

"This?" Percy asked warily. "What is this?"

"You. Grover. This place." Annabeth said, in a small, quiet voice. This wasn't how she wanted to tell. She wanted to tell him over a nice steaming cup of coffee, holding hands and looking into his eyes. "Percy, I'm going back to New York for the summer." Annabeth hesitated. "And I don't know if I'm coming back."

"What about college? Me? Us?" Percy said incredulously.

"What about me, Percy? I'm sick of you not paying attention to me, and always coming second to whatever else you need to do. I'm your girlfriend, Percy. I want to be treated like one. And college is almost over, anyways. We're graduating in two weeks and after that…" Annabeth's voice trailed off, drowned by the tapping of the rain.

Percy was at a loss for words. The silence stretched before them, with Annabeth staring at the ground, and Percy gazing blankly at her. "I – I –"

"I'm sorry, Percy." Annabeth strained to say those words.

"When are you leaving?" Percy's voice cracked.

"Tomorrow morning." Annabeth replied softly, exhausted from the conversation.

"You had already booked the tickets?"

"That's kind of why I was excited to have a date today. It was going to be our last one for a while."

"We can still –"

"No, Percy, it's too late." Annabeth said curtly.

After several awkward moments, filled with sighs and ruffling of hair, Percy turned to leave. Before he stepped out of the door, however, he faced her one last time, and said, "I love you, Annabeth."

"That's nice to know, Seaweed Brain. I'll see you in a couple months." Annabeth smiled sadly, and shut the door behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Hey, guys, thanks for the reviews and thanks for subscribing. XD Means a lot to me, and it inspires me to write more. Hope you guys like it. Oh, and yes, Grover is OOC because he's more like Grover from the movie than Grover from the book. I just liked him better in the movie. :P

Percy walked out of the apartment building, into the rain, and slipped into his car, all in a daze. He was confused, his mind fuzzy, and his vision blurring from the tears that were threatening to spill from his blank eyes.

As he drove, the weather seemed to echo his feelings – first pounding violently against the roof of his car, then drizzling quietly, and, last, stopping altogether to leave the world in a wet, gloomy state.

Outside his dorm, he brought the car to a stop, and let his head fall into his hands. No, he wasn't crying. He was thinking – harder than he probably had before.

He had grown so used Annabeth, her presence, her humor, her fiery wit. Perhaps he had taken her for granted; she clearly thought so. It had been what seemed like countless years where she had smirked at him with those penetrating eyes, always standing next to him, ready to help out at any moment, ready to be brave and courageous even if it meant risking her life.

Now, all that time seemed like too little.

"It's going to be a long time until someone calls you Seaweed Brain again, Percy. You got what you wanted." Percy whispered to himself bitterly, finally unlocking the car doors and sliding out.

In the dorm, Grover was rummaging through Percy's drawers noisily, and completely ignored the dejected Percy that trudged into the dorm and flopped onto his bed.

"Dude, where is your iPod?" Grover said loudly, oblivious to the green headphones that were dangling from the top of the shelf next to him. "C'mon Perce, I need it right now. Mine ran out of charge, and I was going to go running with this awesome new chick in my Psychology class. She is –"

Grover turned around to see that Percy had left the room quietly.

"Where'd he go?" Grover asked, confused, and then promptly went back to rummaging.

Percy had left, partly because Grover wouldn't shut up for hours now that he had started, and that wasn't what he needed. And partly because it was because of Grover that he wouldn't see Annabeth for a while.

"No. It's your fault. And you need to deal with it." Percy told himself firmly – it wasn't going to help blaming other people for his carelessness. But he just couldn't be around Grover any longer. At least not for a while.

So he drove and drove. The route he was taking seemed familiar, but he couldn't recognize where he was going. A turn down the familiar street with the distinctive museum, another right near the hospital and at last coming to sudden stop in front of an intimidating, expensive-looking apartment building.

"Thalia." Percy said under his breath. He quickly darted out of his car and walked briskly to the entrance where a threatening security guard's eyes examined him closely, before deciding that Percy was dressed well enough to enter the building.

"Name?" The pretty receptionist didn't even bother to look up at him.

"Thalia Grace." He said breathlessly – maybe Thalia could make it all better.

"Your name," The receptionist said, bored. Percy mentally entered a 'Seaweed Brain' after those words, sending a pang of longing through him – he was already missing Annabeth.

"Oh, Percy Jackson."

"ID, please."

After whipping out his ID, Percy rushed to the elevator and up twenty-five floors to Thalia's penthouse. He rang the doorbell perhaps one time too many, explaining the look of utter annoyance on Thalia's face when she opened the door.

"What's up, Seaweed Brain?" Thalia popped her gum, an irritating habit.

"Don't call me that." Percy grunted through gritted teeth.

"What happened?" Thalia moved so he could enter her penthouse. She sensed that he was in no mood to joke. She had spent years with her cousin – she knew every expression of his. This one was new: desperate, angry and definitely not himself. "Dude, tell me."

Thalia went over to the dimly lit kitchen, and began to make Percy a decaf coffee as he rambled away.

"Annabeth. Annabeth happened. Annabeth with her complicatedness, and making me confused, and she's crazy! Leaving, why should she leave? Saying I don't love her! What, what is that supposed to mean? Of course, I love her, so much, otherwise I wouldn't be here right now. Right?"

"I missed all of that. I think." Thalia raised an eyebrow, and handed him his coffee, which he took distractedly.

"I just don't know what to do, Thalia. That's why I came here." Percy paced back and forth so fast that Thalia could practically see the static electricity building up between his feet and the carpet laid on the living room floor.

There it was again – that same look of desperation that was getting too familiar for Thalia's liking.

"So, she dumped you." Thalia said bluntly, sipping her own coffee and peeking at a flustered Percy over the rim of her cup.

"Thalia." Percy gave her a warning glance that Thalia did not heed.

"So, yes, she dumped you. Why?" Thalia pressed on, unafraid.

"She said something about not being treated like a girlfriend, not having a date, and –" Percy paused, a realization in his eyes. "Did you know…?"

"Know what?"

"Annabeth's leaving. For NYC. Tomorrow." Percy said, in sharp sentences. To face the fact so obviously killed him inside.

"She's what?" Thalia's look of utter surprise gave Percy his answer. "Seriously? She's just…leaving?"

"She's…leaving." Percy took a deep breath, and attempted to take a shaky swig from his coffee. Thalia looked off into a distance, past Percy, a wistful look in her eye.

"She didn't even tell me." Thalia bit her lip, her knuckles turning white against her coffee cup.

"Thalia, concentrate." Percy said loudly, snapping her out of her thoughts. "What do I do? I don't want her to leave, but I can't stop her now…"

"I'm her best friend, and she wouldn't even tell me." Thalia's voice was vacant and cold.

"Thalia. I thought this was my problem." Percy said unwisely.

The storm that had previously passed was beginning to come back. Percy watched, jaw-dropped, as huge dark clouds began to unfurl on the horizon. The scraggly trees down below were bending sideways from the wind that was picking up outside. Percy looked back to Thalia, who was clutching her shaking coffee cup as if for dear life.

"Thalia, calm down." Percy said warily. He knew, after nearly a decade with her, that his cousin had quite the temper on her.

"DON'T, SEAWEED BRAIN."

Only, if only, she hadn't said that nickname that reminded Percy so much of his girlfriend, then maybe this story wouldn't have started. If only. But, alas, fate works in strange ways.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT."

Suddenly there was a loud crack from behind Thalia, and in a matter of seconds she was soaked from head to toe. The sink faucet, along with Percy's minimal patience, had cracked wide open and spurted water at an unsuspecting Thalia.

"Percy. Jackson." Thalia growled. It was never good when she used his full name. "How could you?"

Percy wasn't scared – in fact, he was the opposite. "How could YOU? I've been telling you not to call me that since the first time we met." Percy spat at her. He was shaking from fury.

"It's just a name!" Thalia cried incredulously.

"No, it's not! It's Annabeth's name for me. ANNABETH'S. Not yours." Percy yelled back, his heart pounding sadly every time he said Annabeth's name. "She calls me that because she loves me, -"

"Loved." Thalia interrupted cruelly. "And I get why she broke up with you – who wouldn't get annoyed of you after a while? You're an inconsiderate jerk."

Percy stuttered for a second, blown away by how low Thalia could sink. "How – how – ?"

"It's not hard to tell the truth." Thalia threw him a contempt-filled smirk.

"Why the hell are _you_ upset?"

"She didn't tell me." Thalia said in a weak voice, all of her anger rushing out like a great whoosh of air. Percy could see her fury had receded and now hot tears were welling up in her usually bright blue eyes.

"Well, I'm the one who got dumped." Percy sat down on the leather sofa dejectedly – misery needs a companion, after all.

"Why wouldn't she tell me?' Thalia sniffled, redirecting the conversation towards herself, sitting down next to him. She was still wet, and that made her look all the more depressed.

"I don't know, Thalia."

"Of course you don't, Percy." Thalia said sarcastically. "She didn't even bother to tell you until today."

Percy sighed. That was the truth in its most quintessential form. Annabeth didn't even inform him about of the biggest decisions of her life until the day before it was about to happen. "I think that's my fault, though." He said heavily. "She said I wasn't paying attention to her, and not spending time with her."

"I wouldn't be surprised. You tend to be little clueless, Percy." Thalia smiled a little, crinkling her eyes, causing the tears to spill out just a bit.

"Don't cry, Thalia." Percy took his sleeve and wiped her face. "I'm sure she meant to call you and tell you, but there was no signal on her phone…or your phone…" Percy's sentence faded awkwardly, but it still made Thalia giggle. "Here, I'll dry you off." Percy touched her on the arm, concentrating, and in no time, Thalia was warm and dry.

"Thanks, Seawee – Percy." Thalia corrected herself before Percy erupted again.

"Thanks, Thalia." Percy said sincerely. "But I still don't know what to do."

"Call Nico?" Thalia suggested tentatively.

Percy mulled over this idea thoughtfully. "Cousin number two." He shrugged. "It couldn't hurt, I guess." He stood up with effort, no doubt tired, and turned to leave.

"Call me and tell me what happens, okay?" Thalia said, leaning against the wall as Percy opened the door. "And I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Everything. I shouldn't have said half of those things."

"It's okay." Percy smiled lightly. "Sometimes you need to hear the hard truth to get you going."

Thalia nodded slowly, a small smile on the corner of her lips. "Bye, Percy."

"Bye, Thalia."

Percy left the apartment building, his second rather unexpected encounter with a girl leaving him bereft of all energy. The weather was back to normal – the clouds clearing, and the wind dying down to a gentle breeze that mocked Percy's emotional puddle. He climbed into his car, wondering where in the world he could possible go next, for there were no more relatives or friends of his in Chicago except at the dorm, the last place where he wanted to be. It was loud there, and too busy to concentrate on things of a serious matter. And this was definitely serious.

Percy pulled out his phone, and dialed Nico's number after straining to remember the numbers; it had been a while since he had talked to his little cousin.

The ring repeated itself for quite some time before Percy heard a familiar voice, crackling from the weakness of the signal.

"You have quite the timing, Percy Jackson."

"Hey, Nico." Percy ran a hand through his hair, strangely nervous and willing for this conversation to not be awkward. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"That I just left the Underworld. If you had called a few seconds ago, I wouldn't have received the call." Nico chuckled his own distinct laugh.

"Oh." Percy raised an eyebrow. "Why were you in the Underworld?"

"Business." Nico replied shortly, and then added surly, "With my dad."

"Sounds fun," Percy said quickly. "Look, Nico, I need…help."

"About…?"

"Annabeth." Percy blurted out.

"You called me for the first time in months to talk about your relationship with a girl?" Percy could practically see Nico's eyebrows vanish into his messy black hair.

"Well. Yes."

"Okay. What happened?" Nico sighed, resigning himself to the fact that he might have to listen Percy drag on about too-personal details of his and Annabeth's relationship for a while.

Half an hour later, Nico was all filled in on the hectic day's events.

"Well then." Nico said, dumbfounded for what to say. "You need to apologize."

"I did!" Percy protested.

"Well, if she leaves tomorrow, then just…" Nico paused, racking through his brain for a good suggestion. "Write her a letter."

"A letter?" Percy's tone was skeptical. That was best Nico could come up with?

"If she's not going to see you for a few months face to face, then at least talk to her." Nico said eagerly.

"Can't I just send her an e-mail?" Percy asked, nearly whining.

"No, no," Nico said hastily. "Letters seem more thoughtful. That'll make a huge difference."

"A letter?" Percy asked again, this time more hesitantly, as if he was thinking over it.

"A letter." Nico said firmly, convinced that Annabeth would appreciate it.

"Okay –" Percy began reluctantly, still requiring urging.

"Hey, look, Percy, I have to go, my girlfriend's calling. Talk to you later, okay?" Nico seemed like in a hurry to talk to his girlfriend, so Percy let him go.

"Okay, thanks, bye Nico. I'll call more often, I promise." Percy said honestly.

"That means a lot, thanks Percy. Bye."

Percy heard a click, and placed his phone back into his jean pocket. A letter. He could do that. How hard could it be anyway?


	3. Chapter 3

_Tick tock._

The clock was chiming away its repetitive song as Percy's frustration mounted. The café was utterly silent, due to its not-so-baffling lack of customers. The secluded café was hidden behind an extremely famous restaurant, which was, no doubt, a rather…strange move on the part of the owner. It was filthy; the dust gathered nearly an inch high on the tables and the coffee quite tasteless and cold. It was the perfect place for Percy to start his letter. You know, if he knew how to start.

It had been over an hour since he had randomly driven here, sat down, ordered one of those terrible coffees, found a small piece of scrap paper and a pen in his car and tried to begin a letter to Annabeth that was sensitive, sweet and apologetic. The confidence he had begun with had slowly started to waver around the twentieth minute, the same time he had abandoned his now ice cold coffee.

Now, he was just plain mad.

He didn't know how to do this, and that was crystal clear by the numerous crosses on the paper.

Dear Annabeth,

I just want to say I'm sorry. I mean, I've already said that, but this time I truly mean it. I love you a lot. And I hope you know that. Please just come back. I need you more than I need life. I think you're amazing, and I miss you so much. I'm sorry. You're honestly the best thing that's ever happened to me. I can't live without you.

Percy ran a hand through his hair, and shuffled the paper, letting out a frustrated sigh. Why was this so hard? Everything seemed either too cheesy or too unnatural or too awkward. He could just imagine Annabeth's expression when she opened his letter – her nose would crinkle, like she smelled an unpleasant odor, and her eyebrows would twitch.

"It's just a stinking letter." Percy growled. "Stupid Nico."

Percy grumbled on for a little bit before the waitress behind the counter threw him a dirty, suspicious look. Percy immediately quieted, and tried to stare at the paper intensely, hoping a sudden spark of inspiration would smack him over the head. It didn't.

_Tick tock._

* * *

Placing her bags outside the plain, white door, Annabeth entered the minimally furnished room where she would spend the next few months until she found a decent, yet cheap, apartment. It included an average-sized bed with no special covers, a desk and a basic chair that didn't look particularly comfy. It was small, but bright, due to the daylight streaming directly in through a small window above the desk. Annabeth immediately went over to the window, squinting, and closed the blinds, immersing the room in a dull darkness. This was how she preferred it.

Annabeth sank to the ground, her eyes burning with the tears that didn't stop flowing all through the plane ride here. For the past two hours all she could think about was Percy. Just Percy with his hair, his eyes, his soft smile, and his hilarious awkwardness that came across as sweet and innocent to Annabeth. She sat there on the uncomfortable hardwood floor, her back tensed against the blank wall, her eyes puffy and red.

As soon as a knock sounded on the door, Annabeth wiped her face quickly, and sniffled, "Come in." Unfortunately, her voice was still weak and crackly.

Annabeth's dad poked his head through the door, his glasses sliding down his nose. "Hey, Annabeth."

"Hey, Dad." Annabeth quickly stood, inconspicuously wiping her nose on her sleeve.

"You okay?"

Annabeth nodded, and changed the subject frantically. After all, her father was certainly not the person to talk to about relationships. "Thanks for letting me stay here for a while."

"Oh, no problem." Annabeth's dad shuffled his feet, sliding his hands into his pants' pockets. "Sorry, it's not much."

"No, it's fine." Annabeth said hastily.

"Why is it so dark in here?" Annabeth's dad said, pushing his glasses up his nose, then walking over to the window and pulling up the blinds. Annabeth squinted against the direct light penetrating her eyes, and blocked it with her arm.

"Thanks, Dad." Annabeth rocked back and forth on her feet, not knowing what to say next.

Her dad nodded slowly, looking around the uninteresting room, only for the sake of doing something. "Do you want to come eat lunch?"

Annabeth glanced at her watch, and realized with a startle that it was nearly two. It only seemed like a few minutes ago (although it had been nearly six hours) that she had left Chicago…perhaps forever. She blinked multiple times, almost getting angry because the tears just wouldn't stop. "Yes, let's go." Annabeth left the room hurriedly, leaving her dad in a confused state, wondering why his daughter was being so…unlike herself.

He didn't know what had happened – she had simply called him up out of the blue, about a week ago, saying she was coming home to spend a month or two there until she managed to find an apartment here in New York City. It was random, and he couldn't help but hear her voice was expressionless and slightly down when she had called him. It came as a shock, because was he remembered Annabeth as sarcastic, laughing, and witty. That person on the phone wasn't…anything.

Annabeth walked through the slightly familiar house, which was just as grandly decorated as she recalled – lots of upscale furniture and larger than necessary windows, which Annabeth adored.

"Annabeth." Her stepmother appeared from behind a corner, surprising Annabeth into jumping backwards.

"Lisa." Annabeth responded blankly. She was completely indifferent to her stepmother, a woman who dressed in outrageously expensive clothing, and had big hair.

In other words, Annabeth hated her.

However, it was only fair that she tried to put her best foot forward. "How are you?" Annabeth struggled out.

"Fine. How did you like your room?" Her stepmother said, examining Annabeth, and easily spotting the puffiness around her eyes. Her stepmother's eyes narrowed.

"It's great. Thanks for letting me stay here."

"Sure." Her stepmother smiled, which really threw Annabeth for a spin.

Annabeth made it into the kitchen, where she found a pair of baby blue eyes peeking out at her from behind the counter.

"Hey, Samantha." Annabeth smiled, but the little girl's eyes grew wide. She immediately turned and ran away, probably to her mother, who would comfort her from the 'crazy' stepsister.

Annabeth sighed – of course; they all thought she was strange and crazy, just because of her powers. In her stepmother's words, she was 'a nuisance and a danger to the family'. What had Annabeth done by coming here? She lost everything, and gained nothing.

She let her head collapse into her arms, resting them on the counter. From somewhere in the house, she could hear her stepmother's whiny voice combating her dad's calm one.

"How long does she have to stay here, Michael?"

"As long as she wants, Lisa. She's my daughter, for God's sake."

"She could be dangerous. What about your kids?"

"My kids? She is my kid, and I'm going to take care of her."

"But Michael –"

"Look, Lisa, just deal with it for a while. I'll make sure she has an apartment and is gone by the end of next week. Okay?"

As her stepmother agreed reluctantly, Annabeth could sense they were heading for the kitchen. By the time they got there, however, Annabeth was gone.

* * *

The waitress was taking too long with Annabeth's coffee. How did Annabeth know? Well, she had had over five minutes to stand at the sparkling counter and mull over the huge mistake she had made until she had, yet again, brought unwanted tears to her eyes.

"No. Stop acting like an idiot." Annabeth gritted her teeth. Her coffee came at last, sliding down the counter, straight in front of her.

The simplest fact was that she was home – where she had spent the maximum amount of her life. All she needed to do to forget about Percy was to go around and explore the place that she once knew so well.

Taking her coffee in her hand, Annabeth walked out of the door with a newfound desire to forget, and move on. New York was full of possibilities – she just needed to find one, and then latch on to it like a leech.

She found her opportunity in the middle of Central Park. Perhaps it was fate, perhaps it was the Gods, or perhaps it was just a coincidence, but it did come rather suddenly and unexpectedly. It also came in the form of a very old, familiar friend.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Sorry, guys, I know it's been a couple days but this chapter took a lot of thought to write. I hope I did a good job! ^^ Thanks to everybody who bothered to review!

* * *

"Annabeth?"

Annabeth turned around, her hair being buffeted by the summer wind and blocking her vision for a second. She could just make out a male figure, and when her face was cleared of her long, curly blonde hair, she saw eyes that she thought she would never see again.

They were electric blue, completely alive, and perhaps brighter than the sun itself. They were crinkled by the sweet smile that was playing on their owner's face. The face itself was framed by locks of blonde hair that fell attractively into those eyes.

Oh Gods, that hair, that face, that smile…those eyes. .

"Luke." His name leapt from her tongue, her tone poisoned with shock. Annabeth's heart stopped, breath caught in her throat. This wasn't possible, it just wasn't. There was no way this was Luke. It was a cruel trick of the eyes, it had to be. Luke wasn't here, he couldn't be. There wasn't any way in the world that he could be here, standing in front of her, smiling his familiar smile that reached his beautiful eyes.

"Annabeth?" He said her name like a question, concerned, seeing the tears of confusion and panic welling up in her eyes.

Hearing her name coming out of his mouth pushed Annabeth over the edge. It had been so long, so many tears, that she had almost forgotten Luke's face, his eyes, his mouth. Her memory of his had been reduced and faded away to a blur, erased by the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of salty tears. This man, this stranger, had brought it all back too suddenly, much too suddenly. Her eyes frantic, she searched his face one last time, wanting to imprint this stranger's face into her memory forever, so she could, at least, have new trace of 'Luke's' face.

And with that look, she turned away, and quickly began to walk away from him, her eyes flooded with hot, confused tears that were streaking down her face.

"Annabeth!" The man shouted after her, and Annabeth could hear his footsteps following her. She quickened her pace, almost running. "It's me, Annabeth. It's Luke."

It had also been years since someone else had mentioned his name. His name – it sent a tremor through her, causing her to halt mid-step, and almost falter and fall.

"Annabeth." The man was breathless, catching up to her at last.

Who was this man? Who was this man who dared to speak her name so many times, who dared to even think of falsely calling himself Luke to cruelly tempt her with the unlikely possibility of a life that included him?

"Who are you?" Annabeth screamed, drawing attention from passersby, who went out of their way to avoid the scene. Annabeth flipped around, and unfortunately, she found herself with Luke's hurt eyes, that made her knees go weak. "Who are you?" She whispered again, her lip trembling, her eyes blinking tears away.

"It's me. It's Luke." He said softly, like the statement was completely ordinary.

Annabeth shook her head frantically, still looking into the depths of the blue that were his eyes. "No, no, it's not."

"It's me. I swear." He put a hand on her arm, smiling at her. Annabeth threw his hand off, and stepped back hastily. The very touch of his hand, to feel his skin touch hers for the first time in years made Annabeth shiver and shrink back.

"No, don't touch me."

"Annabeth." Luke said angrily. "It's me, I swear."

"No, no, it's not you. It can't be you." Annabeth said, her voice gradually getting louder. "You aren't Luke. How dare you touch me? How dare you even talk to me? How dare you call yourself Luke? Luke is dead!" She cried, turning several heads in alarm.

"Annabeth, calm down." He grabbed her by the arms, and held her still firmly. "It's me. I swear."

"No…no…" Annabeth's voice faltered off, her body still shaking from the shock and confusion of it all.

"It's me, it's me. It's Luke."

And suddenly, she found herself enveloped in the strongest grasp she had ever felt. Her face was pressed against his chest, into the softness of his shirt that smelled like…Luke. Annabeth let herself relax against him, her tears being absorbed by the shirt's cloth. Her arms wrapped around him, hugging him tightly as he did the same.

It felt as if the world was gone, and it was just them – here, together again. How? She didn't know…she didn't care anymore. He was here. That was a miracle enough. She had been long taught not to question miracles.

"It is you." Annabeth said into his chest, her voice muffled.

Luke shushed her, his hand stroking her hair, comforting and relaxing her. Annabeth closed her eyes, and obeyed him. As more tears slipped, she smiled into the fabric of his shirt.

They stood there, swaying to the wind that couldn't seem to find a proper direction today. It was acting crazy, changing ways every other second, perhaps excited by the reunion by two lost souls, one quite literally and the other…just lost in the world.

It was quiet. Well, quiet as it could be in a restaurant. But it was quiet in Annabeth's world. But it was a nice quiet that she cherished with all of her heart. It was a quiet that let her stare into Luke's eyes, without it being awkward or strange, smiling widely as humanly possible. Today…today was the day that would change her life forever.

He grinned back at her, a smile that made Annabeth's heart leap hopefully. Gods, it had been too long. The lack of seeing Luke's smile was making all of the feelings she once had rush back again, too quickly. Much too quickly.

They had gone to a restaurant to talk, to catch up, to smile at each other again, and to just be together.

Luke had explained why he was back, why he was given the amazing opportunity to revive his life. Hades had made a deal with him, saying that Luke could come back to life as long he would agree to be aged as much as he would have if he hadn't died that day, so many years ago. He agreed, of course. There was still another catch – the next time he died, he would be sent to Tartarus to spend the rest of his eternity.

At this point, Annabeth had gasped, and hugged him tighter than she had before, and cried a little bit more. The tears were cleaned up by Luke's gentle fingers against her pale face.

"Why?" Annabeth cried out. "Why would you do that?

"To see you. To be with you again." He said softly.

All Annabeth wanted to do then was to embrace him as tightly as possible, to feel every crevice of his body against hers. But, no – that would be inappropriate.

So, she bit her lip and asked him another question to distract herself from the hypnotizing effects of his blue sky eyes. "Why did Hades…?"

"He thought I deserved another chance." Luke said softly, looking off into a distance, past Annabeth. "Apparently the gods on Olympus had been talking about it for a while. They didn't think it was my time to…you know, die then…they thought that I was capable to doing more in this world."

Annabeth had never loved the gods, even Hades, more.

"Well," Annabeth muttered, sliding one hand into his across the table. He looked at it for a second, and then grinned, squeezing it comfortingly. "I'm glad you're back."

"I was hoping that you would be."

Three hours later, on the top of the Statue of Liberty, the euphoria of finding Luke so unexpectedly still hadn't worn off of Annabeth. She continued to beam at him, her gaze never leaving his, even though the entirety of New York City in all of its glory was laid out before her. But the beauty of the city was nothing, nothing, compared to his.

They hadn't stopped holding hands since they had left the restaurant. They had walked, talked, laughed, and cried. And somewhere in the middle of all this, Annabeth felt flutters of a new love.

* * *

Percy had been lying on his bed for the past two hours. Sleep was avoiding him with its greatest effort, escaping him at every turn, even when he thought he had nearly caught it.

The room was dark, filled with a thick silence that crept into his ears and seemed to block out all noise from the outside world. Percy's eyes had adjusted so well to the pitch black darkness by now that he could see nearly everything in the room in perfect detail, with the help, of course, of the moonlight creeping in through the windows.

He had told Grover at around 8:30 that he was tired, and wished to go to sleep. Grover, accommodating to his friend's recent moods, simply shrugged and left the room with a sincere smile. He had gone to study with another friend.

Now Percy was alone. It was easier to brood about things.

He had sent the letter today, and they had told him that she probably wouldn't receive it until tomorrow or the day after. That just gave him more time to sulk about her, and worry about why she wasn't responding.

One reason he couldn't sleep was that he kept seeing her every time he shut his eyes. She was all he could think about. She just stood there, looking at him, kind of sadly, but the corners of her mouth still turned up into a small smile.

That was how she looked the last time he had seen her.

Percy sighed loudly, and turned over in his bed, now staring at the wall instead of the ceiling. He tucked one hand under the pillow, and closed his eyes once more.

Yes, she appeared. But he found if he ignored her for a while, she faded away. He also found that he longed for her to come back when she finally evaporated. Percy swallowed, and shut his eyes tighter. Finally, at 10:30, after two achingly slow hours, sleep came, dousing him in dreams, and a much-needed revitalization.

Immediately, Percy slipped into a dream, that didn't seem like a dream. It was too real. He could feel the cold wind of the air, seeing the thousands of lights that he immediately recognized as New York City – where Annabeth was. He was somewhere up high, on a large balcony of some kind. It took him a few seconds to realize that he was standing on a balcony of the Statue of Liberty. Percy furrowed his eyebrows, confused – why was he here?

He walked a little way, around the balcony. There was nobody here and –

But wait…a giggle, a deep laugh. Percy briskly turned another circular bend, and found that he was staring at the back of Annabeth's blonde hair.

She was laughing loudly, the lights of the city bouncing off of her gleaming hair. She turned her head for the slightest second, as if she had sensed his presence. Percy caught a glimpse of her eyes, bright and happier than he had ever seen her.

But why was she so happy?

Percy's gaze traveled downwards, and realized that her hand was entwined tightly in another's, someone he hadn't noticed yet. His eyes followed that same hand as it caressed Annabeth's face gently, as Percy had once done. It tucked a soft golden lock behind her ear, and then ran down her arms, tickling them like the wind.

Percy watched, motionless, expressionless as Annabeth willingly leaned forward, smiling, to touch her lips to Luke's.


	5. Chapter 5

"Luke?"

Thalia's choked on her water, spluttering it everywhere. Percy was sitting there on her couch, at nearly midnight, head in his hands, and Thalia suspected that he was crying. And he had good reason to do so.

He had come here about half an hour ago, completely panicked, shaking from fury, his eyes bloodshot and tired. He had stuttered incoherently about Annabeth for a few minutes before finally collapsing on the couch, letting his head fall in his hands. For a tense twenty minutes, he had kept his mouth shut, and Thalia had guessed it was because if he spoke another word, that all of the tears he was holding in would explode outwards.

Then, only a second ago, he had uttered his first recognizable words. "She kissed Luke."

It was at this point that Thalia spurted her water across the floor. After staring at him for a few seconds with a concerned look, and realizing he was being serious, Thalia sat down beside him. "Luke? Are you sure, Percy?"

"Yes." Percy's head flew up, eyes blazing. "It was Luke, and she kissed him."

"Percy…" Thalia said tentatively, her comforting hand creeping onto his shoulder. Luckily, he didn't shrug it off. "Luke is dead."

"No, he's not. Apparently not! Apparently," Percy stood up, his tear-stained face furious. "The Underworld wasn't enough for him, and he just _had_ to come back to just, just ruin everything…" Percy took his glass of water, and squeezed it until his knuckles had turned white.

"Percy, how do you even know that was real?" Thalia questioned, now seriously worried about Percy's mental state of mind.

"Why don't you understand? Are you stupid? It was real, Thalia!" Percy shouted at her. Thalia stood her ground, not hurt by his comments – she knew he wasn't himself at the moment. But still, her face turned cold.

"Don't yell at me. I'm only awake right now because I want to be. I could easily kick you out of my house right now, Percy Jackson." Thalia said firmly. "But I won't."

"Okay, that's good to know." Percy gritted his teeth. His patience for Thalia was teetering on the edge, but she was the only one who could help him right now. Grover was nowhere to be found – Percy had turned over the campus frantically in search for him, to little avail.

He was surprised he had even managed to drive here in his frenzied state without causing a crash. In front of him would be a green light, a red light, cars, people, buildings, but all he could see was Annabeth reaching for Luke, an innocent smile on her lips. The utter unlikeliness of it all infuriated him – it wasn't even possible, but it was going to happen…or maybe it had happened.

She didn't even love him – she said so herself, when he was dying in her arms. She had said that she had loved Luke like brother, not like…Percy wanted to scream, but he knew Thalia wouldn't appreciate it.

"Percy, it was dream." Thalia strong voice shattered his incensed thoughts.

"No. It wasn't." Percy said once more, his voice quavering. "She kissed him."

"Percy, think about it!" Thalia said forcefully, walking over to face Percy who had turned away from her a while ago. "There's no way it could have been Luke."

"FINE! Maybe it wasn't Luke!" Percy bellowed. "The real problem is that she still kissed someone else! It's been two freaking days, Thalia, and she's already forgotten about me!" Percy's eyes were wet and filled with spider webs of red.

"Percy!" Thalia's voice rose to its greatest volume. "She's allowed to kiss whoever she wants. You guys broke up!"

Tact wasn't one of Thalia's greatest talents.

Percy glared at her for a second, and then stormed over to the door, opening it with a force greater than necessary. "Thanks for helping, Thalia." His voice was dripping with sarcasm and anger. And he slammed the door shut behind him.

* * *

Percy managed to make it back to the dorm and park without crashing his car into something, another great achievement. Annabeth swam in front of his already blurry vision, disrupting his chance to actually walk up to his dorm without tripping or falling. He felt like screaming at her to get out of the way.

Staggering to his dorm, he passed several of his classmates that stared at him in what they thought was an inconspicuous manner. No doubt, he probably looked drunk, what with his bloodshot eyes and disoriented state.

He swung open the door to his dorm to find Grover typing away on his laptop past midnight, completely unaware of the magnitude of what had happened to Percy in the last few hours.

"Percy!" Grover exclaimed, smiling. Slowly his smile morphed into a frown, as he scanned Percy, who now proceeded to fall headfirst into his bed. "Hey, Perce, you okay?"

"No." Grover heard a muffled response.

"Percy." Grover stood up, and made his way over to Percy. "Man, what happened?"

"Annabeth."

Grover nodded in understanding, but still confused. "What about Annabeth?"

"Luke." Percy said in an expressionless tone, bewildering Grover furthermore.

"Luke?"

"Annabeth. Luke. Together."

"Man, Luke's, uh…dead." Grover put it as simply as he could.

"She kissed him." Percy sat up to face him, and Grover finally got a good look at his friend. All of the anger was gone from him, deflating him, leaving him weak and tired. Grover had never seen Percy like this – so…so hopeless.

"Percy, dude, what are you saying?" Grover sat down beside him, his eyes wide.

Percy took a deep breath, ruffled his unruly hair, and began to tell him what he saw. He spared Grover the details about how Annabeth's eyes lit up beautifully, and how Luke had touched her so sweetly.

Grover let out a low whistle after Percy was done. Percy sighed, and flopped back into the pillows of the messy bed. "And it's happened, right? Or it's going to happen?"

"I don't know, Grover." Percy rubbed his eyes, a permanent frown etched onto his face now.

"But, dude…Luke? Coming back from the dead?" Grover said doubtfully. "That's not…"

"Yeah, I know, it's not even possible." Percy said slowly. "But it's real. I swear."

"Well, we don't know, do we?" Grover asked optimistically, attempting to fill his friend with hope. "It's probably just a dream."

"No, Grover, I know when it's a dream and when it's the future. You can just tell. It felt too real, every moment, the air, the place…No one can dream that vividly, Grover." Percy swallowed.

"So. Luke's going to come back. Or he's already back." Grover stated factually, still puzzled.

Percy nodded, almost certain. Almost was the key word there. Percy pondered about it – how was it even possible? He had heard tales, but it was so rare for someone to be given back their life, especially with Hades' attachment for souls. Was it probable that it was given to Luke on purpose? But for what purpose?

Percy's thoughts were a never-ending circle of unanswerable questions, as Grover sat there, chewing a piece of paper, as he always did when he was thinking especially hard.

Their thinking sessions were interrupted by a cautious knock. Grover jumped up, startled, and then opened the door as Percy continued to lay there, unfazed by the knock. He didn't care who was there, unless it was Annabeth.

"Percy?"

He heard Thalia's voice at the door, her words soft and as hesitant as her knock. Still, Percy didn't bother to get up.

"Percy." Thalia said again. "I'm sorry. I should been more…you know, calm."

Percy could clearly hear the regret in her voice, and in a second he had forgiven her internally. After all, she was his cousin. However, externally, he sat there, his eyes inspecting the ceiling as if it were the most interesting painting ever.

Thalia sighed, and sunk into the bed beside him. She came into his vision, blocking his view of the roof. Her blue eyes were hopeful and sad at the same time. "Look, I'm sorry. I know you have clairvoyant dreams, but this one just seemed so…unlikely." She paused. "I don't think you know what this means for me. For Annabeth. If you haven't forgotten, Luke was the one who took care of us on the way to Camp Half-Blood. He was the one who was with us from the beginning." Percy heard Thalia's voice crack. "When he died…it was like losing a part of us, you know? Yeah, he was evil, but our strongest memories of him are of before all that drama, all of that crap, before the prophecy.

Thalia took a deep, shaky breath. "If he really is back, I want to go meet him."

Percy sat up slowly, and looked into her eyes, that were swimming with tears of a mysterious origin. She looked back, almost pleading for him to say yes. Percy's heart pounded painfully with the thought of meeting Annabeth again, and confronting her about this whole thing, about Luke.

Another thought swung out at him. "And what if he isn't there?" He said softly.

Thalia's eyes remained resolute, but Percy could see the slightest pain flash in them. "Then we'll help you get your girl back." She strained to grin at him.

Percy hugged her tightly, and he felt her tears soak into his shoulder.

"Aw, you guys are so cute." Grover burst out, beaming. They both looked at him, eyebrows raised. And then they all began to laugh, weakly at first, but the sound of their chuckling grew louder and louder, until they were gasping for air. After all of those tears, this laughter was much needed.

* * *

Annabeth woke up at around eight in the morning, forgetting for a second where she was. But her surroundings quickly replenished her memory. Oh yes, she was in a house that she couldn't really call a home.

As the memories rushed back from yesterday, Annabeth found that she was still delighted, and euphoric, the touch of Luke's lips still lingering against hers. He had dropped her off at her house at nearly two in the morning, and kissed her again. Yesterday was something that she could have never predicted, not even in her wildest dreams. Annabeth sighed contently, smiling widely, and leapt out of bed, a new energy buzzing around her.

That energy was apparent to everyone as she entered the kitchen. The rest of the family was already awake, bustling around to begin the day.

"Hey, Annabeth." Her dad shuffled the newspaper, his brows furrowed as he looked upon his daughter's gleaming eyes. The last time he had seen her, she had been crying. The sudden change in attitude worried him.

"Hey, Dad. Hey, Lisa." Annabeth grinned pointedly at her taken aback stepmother. "Hey, Samantha." Annabeth ruffled the little girl's hair gently.

Lisa, glaring at Annabeth, shoved an envelope across the counter at Annabeth, who was pouring herself a glass of milk. "You have a letter."

Annabeth took a swig of her milk, and swallowed quickly. "Really?"

She picked it up, and flipped it over. It was a plain envelope, if not a little dirty, but it stated the name and address of the sender on the back.

Percy Jackson.

Annabeth furrowed her brow, and slowly opened it. A folded paper slipped out, and she unfolded it carefully. The words were smeared, and hastily written.

_Dear Annabeth,_

_ I haven't stopped thinking about you since you left. This is my entire fault, and I'm sorry for ignoring you and not appreciating you enough. I promise, if you come back, I'll show my love for you better. I really love you, Annabeth. I just want you to come back to where you belong. And that's with me. _

_Percy Jackson_

Annabeth scanned the letter once more, confused. Who was Percy Jackson?


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Okay, so we're not going to go back to Annabeth's point of view for a while to…increase the suspense? I suppose. :P

**xxanonymouswriterxx**: Did you mean why Annabeth was forgetting _Percy_ or _Luke_?

* * *

Thalia bit her lip, her face falling faster than Newton's apple, as she examined the weather outside that was continuously getting worse as the seconds ticked by.

"We can't fly to New York, Percy."

"Yeah, I know." Percy said, worried, standing to next to her in front of the large window that was being bombarded by the splattering of violent raindrops. He ran a hand through his hair, letting out a deep breath of air.

"Man, this is terrible. You gotta see this." Grover's voice carried from the living room, where all of their small and quickly-packed suitcases were waiting. Thalia and Percy entered the living room to see the TV flipped to the news channel.

"All of the flights in and out of New York City have been canceled due to outrageous weather that usually is especially rare in the summertime." To increase their worry, the news lady went on, with a grimace on her face. "And it's not just New York City. In fact, the entire northeast coast is experiencing strange weather, characterized by violent thunder storms, erratic lightning and winds up to –"

"Grover, shut it off." Thalia said, tired. She grabbed the remote and put an end to the news lady's voice.

They sat there for a while, glancing at the window every once in a while, in the hope that the storm had miraculously cleared. A few unproductive minutes later, Percy stood up suddenly.

"C'mon, guys, we have to get to New York." He said firmly.

"What, you want to drive in this weather, Percy?" Thalia asked incredulously.

"For Annabeth…yes." Percy said softly. "So you can meet Luke…yes."

Thalia gazed up at him, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "Don't use emotional combat against me, Percy Jackson. It's not a good idea."

"Oh, c'mon, you said you really wanted to meet him. Please, Thalia."

"This is crazy." Grover said quickly, seeing the fire light in Thalia's eyes, saving them from another argument. "Let's just go. Every moment we waste is just going to make things worse."

Percy nodded his head enthusiastically, looking pointedly at Thalia. However, she was still reluctant. "Do you want me to try to fix it?" She asked uncertainly.

"Yes, please!" Percy said eagerly, hope flooding him again.

Thalia shook her head lightly, amused a little, and closed her eyes. Percy could see the gears working in her head as she concentrated and he couldn't have been more grateful for a cousin and friend like Thalia Grace.

But, no matter of how much of a good friend she was, her attempt to control the weather was yielding poor results.

After a few seconds of flicking back and forth between Thalia and the unchanging weather, Grover and Percy sighed dejectedly.

"Forget it, Thalia." Grover said, putting a hand on her shoulder, causing her to open her apologetic eyes.

"I'm sorry, Percy." She said quietly. "I can make it worse, look –"

"Oh, no, no, no… No, I don't doubt your powers, Thalia." Percy said hastily, laughing feebly. "I guess we'll just have to be careful."

"Careful." The other two echoed faintly.

* * *

"Man, this isn't working." Grover squinted, trying to see past the constant rain plopping onto the windshield. Outside of the car, the world was gloomy, a thick fog unraveling across the ground. Up above it was the same – dense, murky clouds leaving not even a patch of blue sky to admire. Even the sun couldn't shoot its normally beaming rays through them, they were that impenetrable. They covered everything, making it seem as though it was night rather than 1:13 p.m.

The weather seemed to cast a shadow onto everyone's moods. The confining car didn't help either. It had been over four hours, with Thalia slouched across the backseat while Grover drove cautiously, and Percy, frustrated, tried to make himself comfortable in the passenger seat. His legs were cramping, and every so often, he would throw a glare at Thalia, who was stretching her legs to her heart's content in the (how it seemed to him now) luxurious backseat.

"Would you stop?" He finally burst out. He saw her eyes flick up at him in the rear view mirror, distracted from her iPod at last.

"Stop what?"

"Stretching."

"What? Why?"

"Because _I_ can't!"

"What kind of logic is that?" Thalia snorted, and immediately, on purpose, extended her legs so that her feet would be relaxing on top of Percy's seat.

"Man, ignore her." Grover said absent-mindedly, seeing Percy's threatening expression from the corner of his eyes.

Percy tried to take Grover's advice to heart. He closed his eyes, and thought of Annabeth. For a few seconds, he smiled a little, seeing her gray eyes light up at him. However, thinking of Annabeth inevitably brought Luke to his mind, too. And…he was back to being exasperated, tired, and irritated.

His annoyance was pushed further as Thalia began to hum noisily.

"Thalia, stop." Grover said warily, nervously looking at Percy grinding his teeth.

"What?" She swung a headphone inattentively, scrolling through her music.

"Humming, please."

"Why? I'm perfectly allowed to –"

"Can we please, _please_, find a rest stop?" Percy said at the top of his voice, having to be louder than the rain, Grover and Thalia combined.

Twenty minutes later, after managing to find a parking spot in an unusually empty rest stop, Percy was waiting in front of the bathroom for Grover, while Thalia got them all coffees. It was completely deserted, except for a pregnant lady flicking through magazines, and two other men, with an overexcited bloodhound on a leash. The storm was still raging outside, causing the unflattering fluorescents to flicker eerily.

"Here you go." Thalia came up beside him, handing him a steaming cup of coffee that Percy was extremely thankful for. He took a sip, and it instantly calmed him. They stood in silence, both taking small gulps of their coffee.

"Why are they staring at me?" Percy heard Thalia whisper in his ear after a minute.

"What?" Percy skimmed the room.

"The guys over there are staring at me." Thalia faced Percy completely, and gave the tiniest jerk of the head towards the two men at the counter.

And indeed, they were staring at her with greedy eyes.

Percy nodded slowly. "I'll go get Grover quickly. We should just get out of here."

Percy rushed into the bathroom, and scanned underneath the stalls for Grover's sneakers. Finding them in the biggest stall, he knocked on the door, which was locked from the inside. "Grover, hurry up."

"Sure, man. Hold up though, they don't have any soap…" Grover's voice carried.

"Just get out here, Grover." Percy hissed through the crack.

"Why, what happen –"

"Grover…"

"Okay, okay, got it…just a sec." Percy heard the water running as Grover washed his hands.

"Percy!"

Thalia's shriek was loud enough to carry into the bathroom. Percy bolted outside, just as Grover opened the stall door, and ran after him.

"Thalia?" Percy shouted.

Outside, Thalia was backed against a wall, her black hair a mess, as the bloodhound barked at her viciously, and its eyes angry, its mouth foaming. It seemed to have increased in size – nearly doubled, in fact. It now reached Thalia's shoulders. Still, Percy let out the largest sigh of relief that anyone could have ever heard.

"Thalia, gods, it's just a dog." Percy laughed, his entire body relaxing after tensing up particularly fast.

"No! It's owners…" She shouted urgently, dodging the dog that was struggling to bite her. She pointed at the opposite wall.

The two men appeared to have gone transparent, floating off of the ground. Their eyes were blank, almost milky white, their irises gone. They just stood there, speaking in a strange incoherent language, which only the dog seemed to understand. At their command, the dog scraped the side of Thalia's leg with its abnormally jagged teeth. She cried out, as Percy saw blood appear on her calf.

"Thalia, get to the car." Percy whipped out a pen from his pocket, and in a matter of seconds, Riptide was glistening in his hand. Thalia turned, squealing and half-holding her bloody leg. She ran to the door, heading for the car.

"Percy, that isn't going to help!" Grover yelled at him, his eyes following the giant bloodhound that raced after Thalia. "They're already dead."

They didn't heed Riptide's presence at all, as monsters usually did. They just trailed the bloodhound as it ran after Thalia. Percy halfheartedly let the sword go back to its usual appearance as a pen. "Well, what do we do?"

"Get that crazy dog away from Thalia." Grover grimaced, and sprinted for Thalia, past the men, with Percy on his trail. Thalia had reached the car, but didn't have the keys and was now attempting to rip off the door handle.

"THALIA! What do you think you're doing?" Percy screamed, furious. After all, it was his car.

"Trying to get away!" She shrieked again, and began to run for the woods behind the rest stop. This didn't throw off the dog in the least – it simply turned sharply and continued to chase her.

Percy groaned. "Where is she going?"

"Man, running isn't going to help." There was something shrewd about Grover's tone.

"Why?" Percy began to run after Thalia who was now leaping through the thick forest as the dog easily and effortlessly jumped over every hurdle.

"That dog is Laelaps." Grover explained, running beside him. "I've seen it before. It's destined to catch whatever it's chasing. No one can escape from it."

Percy swore, ducking the branches and leaves of the forest. "Well, how the hell are we supposed to get away?"

Grover shook his head, his hooves crunching the dried, dead leaves of the forest floor. "I don't know."

They appeared upon a clearing, where they could see Thalia sprinting across it, with the dog snapping at her heels. Both Grover's and Percy's breaths were coming in gasps and pants now, but they continued to run.

"PERCY!" Percy heard Thalia screech his name, and felt helpless – the dog was too fast for him to catch. He looked toward Grover weakly, who echoed his expression.

Abruptly, the world went dark. Darker than when it was storming, darker than it should have been at two o'clock in the afternoon. The darkness seemed to be swirling out from the edge of the clearing on the opposite side, straight for where Thalia was heading. As Thalia was enveloped by the thick, jet black fog-like darkness, Percy shouted after her. "Thalia!"

But it seemed to have worked. The dog growled loudly, suddenly confused, circling the darkness that it apparently couldn't penetrate. It sniffed, no doubt looking for Thalia, but, like Percy, it didn't know where she went.

"Grover, where is she?" Percy said.

"I don't know, man…I don't know."

The dog, angered by its failure at finding its prey, turned around to face them. It snarled, showing its knife-like teeth, its eyes narrowed. It was hell-bent on catching its target this time.

"Get to the darkness!" Grover began to run for where Thalia had vanished.

"Dude, we don't know what's in there!" Percy shouted after him, uncertain. He stood where he was as the dog approached him slowly, crouching menacingly.

"Would you rather get eaten by a dog? Just do it, man!" Grover yelled over his shoulder.

"Gods, if this gets us killed, it's all his fault." Percy said under his breath, and ran straight past the dog, who turned its head sharply, surprised by its victim's move. Percy headed directly for the churning arms of darkness that seemed to reach out for him, welcoming him into their clutches.

* * *

"Welcome, Percy Jackson."

A misty voice echoed from all sides as the black haze blocked his vision completely. The dog's barking had died out, leaving Percy's ears completely bereft of sound, except for that voice. Percy raised his arms in front of him, but he couldn't even see them. He blinked multiple times, but it was no use – the blackness was too strong.

"Where are Grover and Thalia?" He asked the voice strongly.

"Percy?" Their voices cried out to him from somewhere among the gloom.

"Grover, Thalia?"

"We're right here." He felt Thalia's hand grasp his and Grover's hooves clip-clop next to him.

"Oh, thank the gods; at least we're not dead." Grover's voice said, joking even now.

The whirls of darkness whooshed around them, and suddenly attached themselves to the head of a young woman who slowly formed in front of them. The swirls became the curly tendrils of her night black hair, and her deep blue eyes formed next, sparkling like stars. The rest of her body solidified gradually, covered by a dark dress that seemed like the night itself.

"Who are you?" Percy heard Thalia ask curiously.

She answered, her voice low and deep, eyes gleaming. "I am Nyx, goddess of the night."


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note:

**xxanonymouswriterxx:** Oh, no, I can't tell you that right now. ;) Thanks a lot for reviewing so often, though!

* * *

"Where did the dog go?" Thalia asked worriedly, glancing around. Percy could actually make out the outline of her body, now that the darkness caused by Nyx was receding.

"Oh, he's gone." Nyx said dismissively, gesturing with a graceful hand.

"How – how did –" Grover stuttered. But that was probably only because Nyx had directed her illuminative eyes toward him, a sly smirk on her beautiful, immortal face. She had taken the form of a young girl, around the age of twenty, dressed in a navy blue dress that, obviously, matched the exact color of the night sky and twinkled enchantingly.

"I am the goddess of the night; I can hide you under my cloak." Resembling her appearance, her voice was alluring, and velvety soft.

"Oh, like the tale of your son Hypnos!" Thalia exclaimed, recognition in her voice. "He hid behind you when he angered Zeus." Thalia's knowledge of Greek mythology never ceased to amaze Percy.

"Quiet, child." Nyx snapped. "Don't mention his name."

"Zeus or Hypnos?" Thalia asked unwisely.

"Zeus." Nyx hissed, her dark eyes slowly turning blacker.

"Why?" Grover couldn't help himself.

"He's weak." Nyx spat. "With everything that's going on up in Olympus, and he's sitting there, helpless, causing unnecessary storms that just cause everyone –"

"What do you mean everything that's going on?" Percy interrupted, furrowing his eyebrows. Nyx's eyes narrowed, and her gaze dug into his. Percy felt himself losing the basic sense of being – it felt as though he wasn't there anymore, like his soul was being sucked into her two black hole eyes. And it felt nice – just to look at her eyes. It was going down a long tunnel, but there was a light at the end. Oh, how he wanted to reach that light, it was so beautiful –

"Percy!" Thalia screamed, and smacked him hard on the arm. He was jerked back to reality, with the sharp stinging slap of Thalia's palm.

Nyx was more powerful than he thought.

"Yes, I am, child." Nyx said, almost reading his mind. She raised an eyebrow, sneering. "I've made Zeus shake in his sandals."

"Oh, yes, she has."

All of the dark fog surrounding them had suddenly been sucked into one spot beside Nyx. Of that dark fog formed a man, who seemed to be the literal personification of darkness. His eyes were sunken obscure holes, and he was dressed in a shadowy cloak that was blacker than the blackest black. Even describing it was difficult.

"Erebus." Percy heard Thalia whisper. What didn't she know?

Erebus turned towards her, and barely smiled at her. "Good. Few know my name."

"You're Nyx's consort."

"More or less." Erebus shrugged. "What were we talking about?"

"What's happening at Olympus?" Percy pressed – he desperately wanted to know. Maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't have anything at all to do with him.

"It concerns you, Percy Jackson."

Of course.

* * *

Apparently, Nyx couldn't tell them everything.

"Now, now, that would be interfering with fate." Nyx smiled, seeing the look on Percy's face. He was angry, furious even, that she wouldn't tell him anything. But he learned long ago, not to pester a god, especially a goddess – it usually ended with the mortal stuck in some hopeless situation in which they had to suffer an eternity of pain.

Needless to say, he didn't want that.

Well, not as much he wanted to know what was going on.

"Well, how does this concern me?" Percy asked, against his conscience's warnings.

Nyx sighed, and then grinned. "You really want to know, don't you?" She cocked her head, and locked onto his eyes. Percy felt the same feeling of nonexistence for a second, before he willed himself to concentrate. "Well, it doesn't only concern you, Percy Jackson. It concerns everyone around you, especially those closest to you." She paused, giving him a deliberate smile. "Especially a certain girl with eyes stormier than your father's hurricanes."

Percy's heart stopped – Annabeth.

He didn't want to get her involved. How she possibly even be tangled in this new mess? She had left him, to go far away from him. Even then, she had gotten sucked into his problems.

Unfortunately, Nyx wasn't done. "In fact, that girl is the source of the problem. Things are happening, Percy Jackson. You saw that dog, its owners…"

"Yeah, what were they?" Grover asked.

"Souls of the dead, given the opportunity to come back to earth to serve a purpose. In this case, their purpose was to find you." Erebus answered mysteriously.

"Why?" Percy said loudly, firing up. "I didn't ask for this to happen, so why do things like this happen anyway?"

"Because you're you." Nyx said shortly, as if that explained everything.

"That's not a very good explanation." Percy murmured, his face dark and gloomy.

"Well…you should fight it, whatever's happening." Nyx said calmly, unperturbed by his sudden depression.

"I'm sick of fighting it." Percy said, leveling his eyes with hers. This time, her power didn't work. "I just want Annabeth back. That's it. I don't want dead souls, crazy dogs, gods, goddesses. I wanted a simple road trip to New York to get my girlfriend back."

"You know things are never that simple for you, Percy Jackson." Nyx smiled, speaking the truth. For the first time, Percy saw true pity for him in her gaze, but it didn't change the fact that she was the one who delivered unwelcome news to him.

Percy sighed, running a shaking hand through his hair. There was one more question that he wanted to ask her.

"Is it possible to bring people back from the dead?" He asked, his voice wobbly as he thought of Annabeth and Luke's kiss.

"Yes." Nyx said simply, that same knowing look in her eyes. This time the pity in her eyes was more obvious.

Percy felt Thalia's strong, comforting hand on his shoulder. But he knew she wasn't feeling what he was feeling. She was happy, glad, and practically ecstatic for this news. He couldn't more the opposite. He felt bad for feeling like this, but he didn't want Luke anywhere near Annabeth, no matter how happy it made her or Thalia. He understandably didn't want Luke's lips touching Annabeth's again, but he thought that maybe she was kissing him right now, even as he sat here, wasting time.

"We should go." Percy said, turning around. The clearing was empty, and he couldn't hear a barking of a dog anywhere near. The weather was still miserable, but not as much as him.

"Goodbye, Percy Jackson." Nyx said softly. Percy looked over his shoulder, and saw a true genuine smile. Erebus gave him a parting nod.

"Thank you." He said, his voice cracking.

She smiled one last time, and suddenly she was gone, along with Erebus, whooshed away with the fog with which she had arrived.

"Damn, she was hot." Grover said, letting out a whistle. Thalia laughed, and even Percy cracked a smile, shaking his head.

* * *

They got back to the rest stop, which was perfectly normal, as if it hadn't been occupied by a giant dog a few minutes ago. The rain had begun to pour again, while Percy remained perfectly dry as they approached the car.

"Wait, can I go get a snack?" Grover asked, doubling back towards the rest stop.

"Sure, Grover." Thalia said, rolling her eyes. Grover grinned, and went off.

"Your leg okay?" Percy asked, looking at it. It seemed okay now, since he had healed it back in the clearing after Nyx had gone. Sometimes, he was happy for the rain, since it provided such an abundance of water.

"Yeah, it's fine now." Thalia smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem."

The silence was awkward – they were both thinking about the same thing, but with differing points of view.

"She still loves you, Percy." Thalia said quietly, looking up at him. Percy was startled by her abrupt forwardness. She smiled. "Seriously. She does."

"You don't know that." Percy crossed his arms.

"Yeah, I do."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do."

"Can we stop acting like we're five?" Percy asked, amused.

Thalia grinned. "Yes. But I'm right."

Percy stared at her, and then looked away, swallowing. "She kissed him."

Thalia exhaled deeply. "Well, she also kissed you. Multiple times. More than she's ever kissed Luke."

Percy shook his head, straining a smile. "She left me. She loves him now."

"Then why are we going back for her?" Thalia said loudly. "We could just go back right now, and you can spend the rest of your days wondering if she loves you or not. Honestly, Percy. You amaze me."

"I'm going back to see her." Percy said halfheartedly.

"Just to see her?" Thalia was skeptical. "You said yourself, like ten minutes ago, you want her back. You still love her, and as long as you still love her, she'll love you."

"It doesn't work like that, Thalia." Percy said.

"Gods, you sound old." She rolled her eyes. "You two love each other so much. It's been years since she's seen Luke, Percy. Can you imagine the excitement, the happiness she must have felt? She probably got carried away, Percy."

"Sure." He said flatly.

Grover came out of the rest stop, his hands full of candy, soda cans and magazines. Percy knew that all the magazines were for Grover to eat, not read.

"Ready to go, guys?" Grover said, blinking away the rain. "Percy, you want to drive?"

"Nah, I'll do it." Thalia offered and took the keys from Percy. "You can sit in the backseat this time." She chuckled, as Percy smiled.

They got settled in the car. Both Grover and Thalia were completely wet, and spreading water all over Percy's leather seats.

"Wanna dry us off, man?" Grover asked a distracted Percy, who was still mulling over what Thalia had said.

"Oh, sure."

In a matter of seconds, Grover and Thalia were warm and comfortably dry. She started the car, all the while looking at Percy in the rear view mirror, who was biting his lip thoughtfully. She rolled her eyes again, and blasted the radio, upsetting Percy's contemplations.

As she pulled out of the parking lot, she began to sing loudly (and badly). Grover soon joined in, chewing on _Seventeen_. Percy grinned, grateful for both of his off-pitch friends, and also began to sing.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: MERRY CHRISTMAS! Or Happy Holidays if you don't celebrate Christmas!

* * *

It was nearly five hours later, and Percy was still thinking deeply. He had sunk down into his seat a while ago, and a permanent, unattractive frown had been glued onto his face. He had bit his lip, chewed on his nails, fiddled with every tangible object in the car and ran his hand through his hair countless times. And he hadn't spoken a word.

"Percy, stop." Thalia sighed, looking back at him with worried eyes. She didn't remember the last time he had been so quiet.

He looked up at her with empty, yet startled, eyes. "Huh?"

"Stop…thinking." Thalia said, for the lack of a better word.

Percy cracked a weak grin. "That's kind of impossible, you know."

"Don't start with me, Percy." Thalia was not amused. "You need to stop looking like the world is going to end any moment. Smile a little…for gods' sake, talk a little!" Her hopes of Percy actually beginning an ordinary conversation were dashed, as she stopped talking, and the car was once again flooded with an uncomfortable silence.

"Percy, man, it's going to be fine." Grover slipped in. "I promise."

Percy shook his head, and Thalia suspected it wasn't at Grover, but rather at his own, inner thoughts.

"Okay, I'm done with this." Thalia abruptly pulled over to the side of the highway, as Grover looked back and forth between the two of them. Thalia's patience was wearing extremely thin, as Percy continued to be lost in his own little world. "Percy, are you listening to me?" She was breathing heavily now, her face flaming. Grover's eyes widened.

"Percy, man, snap out of it." Grover warned quickly. Thalia threw the car door open, and got out. She slammed it behind her, and that sharp sound seemed to break through to Percy.

"What, why did we stop?" Percy glanced around, and glimpsed Thalia outside, leaning against the window, her hands pulling on her short, spiky black hair angrily. "What's wrong with her?"

Grover gave him a look, with raised eyebrows. "You really have to ask, man?"

Percy gave him a quizzical look, truly confused. "What?"

"Just go talk to her." Grover turned back around to face the front, leaving Percy hanging. Eventually, however, Percy got out slowly, and closed the door softly behind him. She didn't acknowledge his presence, and continued to bury her face in her hands.

It had stopped raining, but the world was still in that terribly gloomy state that made everything seem worse than it actually was. The clouds were rumbling, threatening another breakout of cold, hard rain, and Percy assumed that it was because of Thalia, not Zeus. He leaned against the car, next to her, and watched the other cars pass by, their headlights blurring. Night was beginning to fall, since it was nearly seven.

"You know what, Percy?" He heard Thalia's voice. It was a bizarre confident, that, admittedly, scared Percy a little bit.

"What?" Percy said quietly.

"You think you're only one who's hurting? The only one who's lost something, the only one who's angry?" Thalia asked, her voice quavering just a little bit. "Well, news flash, because, as Nyx said, it doesn't only affect you, okay? It affects all of us, anyone who even bothers to help you."

"I know, Thalia, I –"

"No, you don't, Seaweed Brain." Thalia argued violently, finally looking up at him with torn, pained eyes. Percy let his nickname slide with gritted teeth, as Annabeth's face flashed feebly in front of his vision.

"Thalia, why are you –"

"Why am I angry? Why am I sad, crying like a stupid little girl?" Thalia's voice quavered, but her eyes were still vicious. "You still don't know what Luke coming back means for me, Percy. You don't know." She paused, taking a deep, trembling breath. "When you told me Luke was back, I was so…happy, gods, I can't even describe it. But, then you said that he kissed Annabeth, and…Percy, how you feel about Annabeth, is how I feel about Luke. I love him. And I'm pretty sure you know what it feels like when someone you love breaks your heart."

Percy was flabbergasted. He stared at her, blinking multiple times. "I didn't know –"

"Of course you didn't, Percy." Thalia laughed bitterly. "You still don't. You see, Luke never loved me. Annabeth's loved you…hell, she still loves you, and I know it. Luke always had eyes for Annabeth. Annabeth was his everything…his love, his best friend. You don't know what that feels like. You don't know what it feels like to love someone, who doesn't love you," Thalia snarled. "And then watch them die in the arms of another girl, who, incidentally, is also your best friend."

She concealed her head in her hands again, as Percy stood next to her, at a loss for words. He'd never known. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"How could I?" Thalia spat. "With you spending all of your time sulking about Annabeth, and how you're _never _going to get her back. Gods, Percy, just…just stop."

"I can help you with Luke, I promise." Percy said, willing to say and do anything to rid her of this pain.

Thalia laughed that same humorless laugh again. "It's fine, Percy. He's in love with Annabeth, and it's okay." She stared off into the distance, watching the clouds unfurl on the horizon. "I've grown used to it." There was something hollow about her words.

Percy had never heard something so hopeless. He slowly put an arm around her shoulders, and when she didn't throw it off, he squeezed tightly. "I'm sorry." He apologized honestly, meaning it with every fiber of his being.

"You guys coming?" Grover's head stuck out of the window.

"Uh-huh." Percy nodded, and ushered Thalia into the backseat of the car. She wasn't crying anymore, but she was still strangely quiet for, you know…Thalia.

Percy climbed into the driver's seat, and pulled back onto the highway.

"Man, is she okay?" Grover whispered into Percy's ear.

"I heard that." Thalia snapped, a slight smirk on her face. "You guys better not talk about me."

"Yeah, she's fine." Percy smiled, looking back at his cousin, whom he realized, at this moment, that he loved as just as much as Annabeth, despite their altercations, and their heated clashes of personality. She gave him a small smile in the rear view mirror.

"So, you guys want to go eat? I'm starving." Grover's voice harmonized with the growling of his stomach.

"Are you serious?" Thalia snorted, chuckling. "Dude, you just ate like five magazines."

"That was three hours ago!" Grover protested, and gave a pleading look towards Percy, who submitted to his wordless plea.

"Sure." Percy took the next exit, which was conveniently only two minutes later.

"Where are we?" Grover asked, squinting at the sign. "Geez, it's Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania."

"Bloomsburg?" Thalia began to laugh loudly. "Gods, that sounds like an old folks home."

Percy chuckled as he cruised down the road, skimming the small town for an acceptable restaurant. "How about that one?" He pointed at a small brick building in the corner of a small town plaza. He parked in the barren parking lot, and they all clambered out.

"Inspirations?" Thalia was skeptical, reading the dilapidated sign above the squalid glass door, as they walked towards it. "Doesn't sound like a restaurant."

"Well, it is." Percy scanned the menu hanging in the glass window. It seemed okay, serving average American style food, along with a touch of Greek.

"I suggest we go in." Grover was ogling in the window, and when Percy followed his gaze, he found that he was looking at a gorgeous waitress with long, dark tresses that had a beckoning smile painted on her china doll face.

"Wow, Grover." Thalia laughed, and opened the door. The little bell above it dinged softly, signaling that the only customers of the day had entered.

"Dude, it's deserted." Thalia said in a low voice, her eyes glancing over the empty room. It was very comfortably decorated, with lots of colors, and dim lighting. The brick walls were adorned with many paintings, of flowers, music, dancing, the stars, and various other things.

"Hello, my name is Thalia." The waitress said, smiling widely. She seemed quite upbeat, compared to the other Thalia, who was scowling.

"Hey, that's cool." Grover said loudly. "I love that name, it's so pretty." He smiled at the waitress, and amazingly, she giggled. Thalia gave a loud snort.

"Here's your table." She guided them to the first table, and they all sat down quickly. Grover's stomach gave another grumble. "What would you like to drink?"

They all ordered their drinks, and perused the menu while the waitress went into the back to fetch the Cokes. Grover wasn't exactly paying attention to the menu, but rather, peeking over it to see into the back room through a tiny window in the door.

"Dude, there's more of them!" Grover exclaimed in an excited voice. Percy looked back over his shoulder, and saw no more than nine different girls all hanging out in the back room, all giggling and glancing at them. One of them, with curly blonde hair proceeded to wink at him, and smirk, making his heart pound. She looked so much like Annabeth.

"Oh, c'mon guys." Thalia said, rolling her eyes. "I think I want the chicken parmesan. Maybe not… What do you want?"

"You think she'll give me her number?" Grover asked, ignoring Thalia, which made her narrow her eyes.

"Grover, calm down. I highly doubt you'll feel like driving to Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania every weekend to see your girlfriend." Percy said.

Their drinks arrived in the hand of the blonde girl that had winked at Percy. Grover's disappointment was quite obvious, but she didn't seem to care in the least.

"Hey, handsome." She gave him a sly smile, and leaned down to hand him his Coke. Percy swallowed, his eyes avoiding her low cut top. He could still, unwillingly, see a small tattoo of a heart pierced by an arrow on her right breast.

Thalia almost growled. "Hey, hey, girl…give me my drink." Percy was appreciative for her, for it distracted the waitress, who once again stood up straight.

"My name's Erato." The waitress flipped her shiny hair, and almost slammed Thalia's drink down in front of her. "And here's yours." She gave Grover his drink, without a second look at him. "Ready to order?"

"Uh, chicken parmesan." Thalia said first.

"Same." Percy said.

"Got any enchiladas?" Grover asked eagerly.

"Sure." The waitress said slowly, and headed back to kitchen. "Be right back."

"I don't like this place." Thalia blurted suddenly, as soon as Erato had left.

"Just because it has a few girls prettier than you, Thalia?" Grover said insensitively.

Thalia glowered at him. "No." She clenched her teeth. "It's just weird."

"C'mon Thalia, it's fine." Percy reassured her, looking around. He stared at the paintings. There were exactly nine of them, set over each of the nine tables. The one they were sitting had a large, majestic painting hanging over the brick wall, closet to Thalia. In it, a beautiful blonde girl with curly hair was holding hands, and leaning in for a kiss from a tall man with messy black hair. They were under a white gazebo, surrounded by falling flower petals. Heart caught in his throat, Percy gaped at the picture. "Thalia…"

Thalia glanced up, and saw him gawking at the painting. Her eyes widened. "Whoa. That looks like me and…Luke." Her voice broke.

Percy looked at her, startled. "What?"

She looked back at him, tears in her eyes. "He's about to kiss me."

Percy stared at the picture again, confused, and concentrated harder this time. Still, that man still looked like him, and the girl like Annabeth. "Uh, Thalia…"

"I see you're admiring the painting." Erato's voice shattered his confused thoughts, and perhaps blurry vision. "Beautiful, isn't it?" She gave them a shrewd smile, and giving them their ordered food.

Percy shook his head, and began to eat the plate of food that she had placed in front of him. Grover dug into his enchiladas, which looked cooked to perfection. Thalia hadn't even touched her fork yet, because she was still staring at the painting.

"Thalia, stop." Percy was worried that the painting might, just somehow, have a negative effect.

She turned back towards him, a thoughtful look her eyes. "Erato…"

Percy smiled a little, and let Thalia be her over-analyzing self, as he ate a piece of chicken.

"Erato! Like one of the…nine," Thalia breathed before completing her thought. "Muses."

Percy gave her a worried look. "Muses?"

"Percy, they're the nine muses!" Thalia said softly.

"No wonder they're so beautiful." Grover said slowly, still ogling through the door.

"How come we always come across these things?" Percy said, utterly confused, and annoyed by all of this.

"Because you're you." Thalia echoed Nyx's words with a smirk. "Anyway, back to Erato, and the painting…Grover, what do you see?"

Grover squinted at the painting for a second. "Uh, me and that waitress, Thalia."

Thalia bit her lip. "Percy, you see you and Annabeth, right?"

Percy nodded quickly.

"You see, Erato's the muse of paintings and poetry of love." Thalia explained quickly. "We're all 'inspired' to see what we want, love wise, in the painting." She shook her head, smiling. "I knew this place was weird."

"Well, they have good food, so I'm not leaving." Grover said firmly, and proceeded to take an enormous bite out of his enchilada.

"They do seem harmless…" Percy said slowly. Thalia squirmed in her seat, still unconvinced.

"Well," She began, with a warning tone. "It's possible to become obsessed with what the muses show you. Just don't look at the painting."

Percy found this almost unbearable, now that she had made it so obvious. He saw her peeking at it too, between bites, her eyes searching the painting over and over again. It was showing her a near impossible future. On the other hand, it was showing Percy a beautiful past, and maybe, hopefully, a beautiful future. He couldn't resist looking at Annabeth's face, with her smiling eyes and her hands clasped so tightly in his.

"Guys, stop." Grover said loudly, snapping his fingers in front of their faces. They both emerged from their trance, to find that their food still uneaten.

"Why aren't you affected by it?" Thalia asked, annoyed by the unfairness of it all.

"I'm not in love with the waitress, it's just like, you know…she's hot. That's it." Grover shrugged, and Percy understood what the problem was. Thalia and him were both deeply in love with the people in the paintings, and therefore, it made it harder to look away.

"We should leave." Percy sighed, standing up. It seemed he was always saying that lately. Thalia just nodded, and stood up, too. Grover grabbed his last enchilada and followed them to the counter, where Percy flipped out his wallet. Erato came out from the back, and rang up their bill for them quickly. As she was doing so, Percy heard Thalia gasp loudly. Erato raised her eyebrows, and then gave Percy the receipt to sign.

"Okay, have a nice night, guys." Erato smirked at Percy, and for a second, he felt his heart lunge towards her. She was gorgeous, that was undeniable, but one more look at the painting over their table had his heart back to pounding for Annabeth. Erato smiled like she knew this, and tilted her head towards him. "It's all going to be fine." She whispered to him, as Grover and Thalia wandered ahead, waiting for him outside. Percy stared at her, and then left with a thankful nod.

Outside, it was windier now, a nice, cold breeze playing against their faces. Not giving him a chance to enjoy the weather, Thalia grabbed his arm painfully.

"Ouch." Percy pulled away from her, but quickly saw the urgency in her eyes.

"Percy did you see her tattoo?" Thalia asked instantly.

"Uh-huh. The heart with the arrow." Percy said absently, and unlocked the car doors. Grover immediately piled in.

"Percy, what if…" Thalia hesitated. "Annabeth's been hit by an arrow of Eros?"


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: Hey, this is a pretty long chapter. Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson, obviously, unless I was Rick Riordan, which, unfortunately, I am not. This is going to be the only disclaimer for the entire story. Somehow I don't find the appeal in writing a disclaimer in every chapter. :P

* * *

What Thalia had said didn't make any sense. It didn't have a drop of logic in it, and yet…Percy felt his heart leap hopefully, and pray, that maybe, just maybe, Thalia was right.

However, it seemed so unlikely. But then again, Luke coming back was also unlikely, and it had happened. So why not Annabeth being hit by an arrow of Eros? At least, that was what Percy's heart hoped. It pleaded with his brain, shouting that yes, yes, this was why Annabeth had kissed Luke. Percy's brain fought back, arguing that there was no reason for Eros to shoot her, and that is was a stupid idea.

"The arrow of Eros?" Percy asked reluctantly, acting like he was skeptical, which he was deep down. But as they say, the eyes are the gateway to the heart. And his eyes were bright with optimism, that this was why Annabeth had done what she had done. No, she would've never kissed Luke on her own accord. She still loved Percy…she still loved him. The thought of this made Percy feel lighter than usual, and like he was floating up to heaven. It was probably the best news he had ever received. He reiterated in his mind, hearing the thought bounce around excitedly – she loved him, she loved him, she loved him…

"Yes, Percy." Thalia said, biting her lip. "But why?" She echoed the very question that Percy's practical side was screaming. "Why would a god get involved in an insignificant love story?"

"Hey…" Her words stung just a little, but Percy knew she was thinking deeply, and when she did so, she didn't care about others' feelings. But the sting of her words was nothing, nothing, compared to the flying joy his heart was experiencing. She still loved him…

"Well, it's not really insignificant." Thalia was thinking out loud, and this was generally when her best ideas hit her. "You are one of the most powerful demigods alive…you know, next to me, Nico and Jason. And Annabeth…she's pretty powerful too. But why would they interfere in your relationship?"

Percy shrugged, externally appearing indifferent, but on the inside he was jumping with excitement, a wide smile plastered on his face. She still loved him…

He climbed in the driver's seat, and Thalia followed his suit, still thinking deeply. Now she was whispering to herself, causing Grover to stare at her with a concerned face.

"Thalia, you okay?" Grover asked, his brows furrowed.

"Yeah, yeah." Thalia went back to her aloud thinking.

Grover looked to Percy for an explanation of what had happened outside the car. Percy explained to the best of his ability without exploding of delight. Grover's eyes went wide, and he soon was too mulling over this possibility. But, to him, it didn't make any sense.

"That's a little…far-fetched, don't you think?" He asked, doubtful.

"We're the children of Greek gods and you're a satyr." Thalia raised an eyebrow. "That's not far-fetched, Mr. Hooves-instead-of-feet?"

Grover raised his hands in submission, while Percy grinned. Thalia's argument was becoming stronger by the second, her evidence solidifying.

"I mean, Eros could just be having fun. He's known to do that." Thalia said, while Percy nodded enthusiastically on the inside. "Or maybe someone made him do it?" This was a strange option that made them go silent. All of their minds drifted towards the dog and the dead souls they had encountered only a few hours back.

"It's possible." Grover said simply, still unconvinced.

"Then maybe…Luke was also shot." Percy heard Thalia's hopeful voice utter these words quietly, so Grover wouldn't hear them. But Percy didn't heed her words. He left her to think about this on her own.

So Percy just sat there. His mind was floating off towards Annabeth, and how she loved him. Oh, how he loved the sound of those words together in his mind. She loved him.

He thought of her lovely eyes, her golden hair billowing behind her, as he had seen on the Statue of Liberty in his vision. Luke was also present in this memory, but he no longer bothered Percy – after all, their love wasn't real.

'_But it could be.'_

His dream-shattering, practical, and pessimistic thoughts broke into the daydream, scattering Annabeth into a million fragments. No, no, it must have been Eros, for sure.

'_You don't know that. And it is far-fetched, you know it. She loves him.'_

It was the same thought repeated in his head, except this time the 'him' referred to certain blonde man by the name of Luke Castellan.

_'She kissed him, remember? And w__hy in the world w__ould Eros do something like that?'_

"Hey, Percy, can we go meet Eros?" Thalia asked out of the blue, bringing Percy back from his thoughts, which were sending his hope and happiness spiraling down at an alarming rate. It took him a second to absorb her question, and come out with the answer.

"No. Annabeth first." He said firmly, cutting off the protesting Thalia. "Annabeth first."

* * *

The famous New York City skyline, complete with millions of multi-colored lights, had appeared on the horizon a few minutes ago. Percy's heart thumped happily against his chest, knowing that somewhere among those lights, was Annabeth, perhaps thinking about him, waiting for him. Thalia was quiet too, and Percy knew she was thinking about Luke. Her eyes were glazed over, looking off into a distance, breezing over all of the beauty that was NYC. It made no difference to her. All she wanted to see, all of the beauty in the world to her, was Luke. How did Percy know? He felt the same exact way about Annabeth. He wasn't here to see NYC's amazing sights. To him, the most amazing sight in NYC at the moment was simply a girl, with strong grey eyes, and beautifully curled tendrils of yellow hair.

Lost amidst the thoughts of their loved ones, Thalia and Percy were completely silent, much to Grover's annoyance.

"You all are too serious." He exclaimed, slouching in his seat, pouting. "You haven't spoken a word since we left Bloomsburg." He looked ready to burst into a tantrum like a five-year-old. This made Thalia laugh and Grover smiled. This was his true intention all along. Now, about Percy…

Percy had just been driving, eyes focused on the road, brain focused on Annabeth. Grover tilted his head at him, and waved a hand in front of his face. The car swerved dangerously.

"Grover!" Percy said furiously. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to get you to talk." Grover stated. "And I succeeded."

Percy stared at him, glaring for a second. But he couldn't hold it. The intimations of a smile pulled up the corners of his lips. They all burst into laughter, and Percy didn't stop smiling the entire ride into downtown NYC.

The city was just as beautiful as he remembered it. It was close to 10 o' clock, and, of course, that was when the city was the most exciting. The traffic was as if it was rush hour on a weekday, but then again, it was always like that.

"This is taking too long." Percy grumbled, sticking his head out of the window. The road was stuck in a never-ending traffic jam for as far as he could see. The cars were honking and the lights were flashing, overwhelming his ears and eyes.

"Oh, relax, Percy." Grover said, looking around as if he'd never seen it before.

"Yeah, relax, Percy." Thalia smirked, knowing exactly why Percy couldn't relax. "Annabeth's not going to go anywhere."

"Oh yeah?" Percy retorted. "Well, she left pretty suddenly a couple of days ago, and I wasn't expecting that either." He went back to restlessly sticking his head out of the window, and shifting his hands on the steering wheel.

"You wanna walk?" Thalia suggested jokingly. To her horror, Percy bit his lip, thinking hard.

"You know, that might actually be quicker."

"Percy!" Thalia cried out, practically outraged. There was no way she was walking all the way to Annabeth's house. "No!"

Percy sighed. She was right – where in the world would they keep the car?

Grover hummed, indifferent to the postponement. That was expected – he didn't have somebody waiting for him, only a few minutes away.

As soon as the jam cleared, no less than twenty minutes later, Percy stepped on the pedal with all of his might.

"PERCY! Calm down!" Thalia screamed, trying to keep her voice even as they bounced over the rough NYC roads. He didn't pay attention to her, and at last, in ten minutes, brought the car to a screeching stop in front of an enormous, expensive-looking house. Grover gaped as Thalia's jaw dropped.

"_This _is where Annabeth lives?" Thalia choked out, staring at the windows that made up the walls, and the sprawling garden that was in front of the house, consisting of dozens of brightly colored flowers that seemed washed out in the light of the streetlights. "It's so…big." It seemed as though her shock had reduced her vocabulary temporarily.

"Yep." Percy said shortly. He had seen pictures before, and his reaction had been the same as theirs was right now. "C'mon." He started up to the entrance, a large mahogany door with etched glass in it.

"Wait, man." Grover stopped him, grabbing his shoulder. "It's like 10:30. Do you really want to disturb them?"

"Disturb them?" Percy laughed. "Who goes to sleep at this time in New York?" He pointed at the lights that were on inside of the house. "And I've driven all this way to see Annabeth. So I will." His resolved unbreakable, he rang the doorbell twice. A light switched on in the lobby a few seconds later, and Percy could see a man in a robe heading for them. The door swung open to reveal Annabeth's dad.

"Hello." He looked slightly confused by the trio that was standing outside of his door at 10:30 p.m. They looked exhausted, like they had been traveling for an extremely long time. "May I ask who you are?"

"Oh, yeah." Percy had been so preoccupied with meeting Annabeth, that he had forgotten than her father didn't even know who he was. "I'm Percy Jackson, and this is Thalia Grace and Grover Underwood." They both nodded their heads, and said hi.

"Percy Jackson." Annabeth's dad thought over this name for a second – it sounded familiar. "Are you a friend of Annabeth's?" He inquired, seeing that Percy looked like a college student.

"Yeah." Percy knew he was more than a friend, but he said it anyways, not wanting to explain their intricate relationship to her father, of all people. "Where is she?" Percy rushed to ask, and then added an obligated 'please'.

"Uh, she's with a friend." Her dad was still confused.

"You mean she's not here?" Percy couldn't believe it. Thalia squeezed his shoulder, warning him to calm down a little.

"No, she hasn't been here since noon."

"Well, could you tell me where she is?" Percy asked, his patience teetering on the edge. If he didn't get to see Annabeth after nearly a fourteen hour drive, he was going to blow up.

"Um, yes, I can give you the address." Her dad shuffled back into the house as they stood there. He looked back at them, and beckoned for them to come in. "Come in, it's fine."

The three of them entered the ostentatious lobby, awe in their eyes. Percy hadn't seen the inside before.

"You have an amazing house, Mr. Chase." Thalia said politely, and truthfully.

"Oh, please, call me Michael." Her dad was rummaging through some papers on a table. He pulled out a small, dirtied piece of paper. "Ah, here it is." He grabbed his cellphone, and began to dial the numbers meticulously, squinting at the small font. Percy tapped his feet impatiently, and Thalia gave him a very mom-like look to stop. Michael pressed the call button at last, and it began to ring loudly.

Many rings passed, and Percy's heart was slowly dropping to his stomach. He wouldn't get to meet her.

"Hello?"

Percy heard Annabeth's voice crackle through the phone. His heart leapt and his eyes hopeful. A few days without her voice had had him craving for it, more than he had known.

"Annabeth?" Michael said into the phone. "Yes, where are you, Annabeth?"

"At Luke's, why?"

Thalia's eyes went wide, and instantly began to fill with tears. So, he really was back. All this time, a sprout of doubt had been in her heart, that maybe Percy's vision had been false, and untrue. But no, he was here. Luke was alive.

As for Percy…well, he wondered what the hell Annabeth was doing at Luke's at this time of night.

"What's the address?" Michael asked. "You have some friends here to visit."

"Friends?' Annabeth's voice was confused.

"One is…Percy Jackson." Michael said slowly, as Percy mouthed his own name to him over and over again.

There was an uncomfortable silence over the phone, and Percy heard Annabeth take in a breath to start a sentence and then stop.

Percy's face fell – this wasn't what he expected. He hadn't expected her to not say anything. He had expected, no _wanted_, her to scream with joy, and demand that he come to Luke's immediately. He had wanted her to run into his arms, but seeing as she wasn't here, it wasn't possible.

"Okay." He heard Annabeth's shaky voice say. "Anyone else?"

"Thalia…Grace…And Grover…Underwood." He strained to remember the names, and Percy whispered them to him.

"Oh, okay." Annabeth's voice was now considerably happier, which made Percy confused, and slightly angry. She proceeded to give them the address of Luke's house, which apparently, was only a few blocks away. "They can just come over here. Luke won't mind."

"Who's coming, sweetie?" They could hear Luke's faint voice in the background.

Percy heard a tearful choke escape from Thalia, hearing Luke's voice for the first time in years. But Percy wasn't paying attention. How _dare_ he call her sweetie? She didn't even love him. Not truly, anyways. Percy shook his head, enraged. In a few minutes, everything would be alright. Annabeth would be his again.

"Thalia and Grover." Annabeth answered Luke, leaving Percy's name out completely. Percy's jaw dropped, his eyes furious and pained at the same time.

"Okay, bye, Annabeth, they'll be over soon." Michael hung up. "Well, you can go now."

"Thank you, Mr. Chase." Thalia said quickly, and dragged an infuriated Percy out of the door. She immediately took the keys from him, and slid into the driver's seat, after pushing Percy into the backseat.

"It's okay, Percy. She was probably just shocked." Thalia reassured him, worried, because he looked as though he was about to break the door handle of the car. She accelerated and took the designated turns to Luke's house.

"PROBABLY!" Percy shouted, making Thalia and Grover jump. "I hate that word." He growled.

"Percy, it's fine!" Grover said loudly.

"No, it's not." Percy was beginning to break down a little. The winds outside were picking up – after all, he was the son of the god of hurricanes, also. "Why are we even going, guys, let's just go home."

"You're being unreasonable, Percy." Thalia said firmly. "It's fine."

"It's all fine for you, isn't it, Thalia?" Percy spat. "You get to see Luke and you're happy as anyone could be."

Thalia threw him a disgusted look. "You seem to forget he likes Annabeth. So, just shut up, Percy. You're not the only one who's angry. You're just the only one who can't control it."

She stared ahead now. Percy stared at the back of her head, silenced completely, but the anger hadn't quite receded yet. Grover stared at them both, astounded by what had happened here, but not wanting to ask for the sake of them all.

Thalia pulled up to a house, which was averagely sized, and comfortable-looking from the outside. "We're here." She said, expressionless.

They all scrambled out of the car. It was beginning to drizzle, and the winds were blowing wildly, due to the combined resentment of Thalia and Percy. They all ran up to the door, and Grover knocked a few times.

And the door opened.

Percy, who was standing behind Thalia and Grover, furthest from the door, saw Annabeth standing there, her beautiful grey eyes pleasantly surprised to see her friends, even though she knew that they were coming.

"Thalia!" She squealed, and hugged her tightly. "Grover!" She gave Grover a short hug, laughing happily. Percy watched the proceedings with expectant eyes, waiting for her to notice him. Annabeth ushered Grover and Thalia inside, and then her eyes flicked to Percy.

It was as if the world stopped. Annabeth scrunched up her face, innocently confused. Percy just stood there, examining every little detail of her breathtaking face. Her hair was a little messy, but to him, it had never looked better. Her eyes were blank and stormy, as always. Her lips were set in their most comfortable state, pouting slightly, her golden hair blowing into them. She raised a hand to brush her hair out of her face.

They were both frozen, watching each other.

"Come in." Annabeth said simply, much to Percy's disappointment. Why was she acting so indifferent?

Inside, the room was dimly lit by two lamps, and the table had clearly been set for a romantic dinner. Percy's blood boiled a little, and took a place in the room, standing near Thalia.

"She acted like she doesn't know me." Percy muttered, heartbroken. But, Thalia didn't acknowledge him. She was craning her neck around every corner, and Percy knew she was looking for Luke.

"Luke!" Annabeth shouted over her shoulder, a fondness in his voice as she said his name. "They're here!"

"Coming." Luke's voice echoed through the house. Thalia almost squealed, unable to keep the grin off of her face.

He came around the corner, presumably from the bedroom, and he looked older, as he would've if he hadn't died so many years ago. Thalia cried out, and rushed towards him, as Annabeth looked on with affectionate eyes.

"Luke!" Thalia tackled him, and he laughed, hugging her back tightly.

"Thalia." He said softly, and closed his eyes. They hugged for a while, and after a few moments, Percy realized that Thalia was crying, sobbing practically, into Luke's shirt.

"Hey, hey, don't cry." Luke said quietly, and rubbed her tears off. Annabeth put a comforting arm around Thalia.

"I just can't – can't believe you're – you're here." Thalia hiccupped, her tears streaking into her smiling mouth. Percy smiled a little, seeing how happy she was. But he couldn't handle it anymore – he needed to talk to her.

"Annabeth." Percy blurted out, destroying the moment. She glanced up at him, with that same confused look.

"Yes?"

Percy couldn't help but notice that she shrunk into Luke's body when he said her name. Percy didn't know what he wanted to say, he hadn't prepared a speech or anything. He had just been expecting her to be ecstatic by his return – a little egotistical, now that he thought about it.

So he just raised his arms, a hopeful look on his face. "Hug?" Gods, he felt like a little kid.

Annabeth blinked, and shrunk back more into Luke, who wrapped an arm around her, letting go of Thalia slowly. "I'm sorry." She said, blinking innocently, but Percy could, unfortunately, see a slight revulsion on her face. "I don't know you."


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: Thanks for reviewing guys! Sorry for the cliffhangers, but I love 'em. :) And yes, Annabeth's dad is named Frederick, not Michael. I now know that thanks to **xxanonymouswriterxx**. But I'm not going to go back and change all of that, because I'm just...lazy. :) Hope you like the chapter!

* * *

Percy searched her face over and over again, incredulity in his eyes. "Wh – what?" He stammered out. Annabeth was snuggled into Luke's side, and he had placed a protective arm around her shoulders. He, too, was staring at Percy, but there was something in his eyes that had Percy fuming.

He knew.

He knew that Percy was in love with Annabeth, he knew that Annabeth loved Percy. The look in Luke's eyes was almost smug, and simultaneously, a little apologetic. Percy ground his teeth, and turned away from Luke to Annabeth, once again. She seemed a little scared, if not disgusted with Percy's behavior. To her, a stranger had barged into her home following her two best friends, and had asked for a hug. And that same stranger had sent her a very perplexing letter a few days before.

Grover and Thalia were looking on with bewilderment, but didn't know what to do.

"How – how do you not know me?" Percy asked, swallowing. He blinked furiously, holding back burning tears.

Annabeth shook her head, puzzled. "I just – just don't. We've never met before."

"Never met before…what?" Percy gaped at her. She was slowly, and unintentionally, breaking his heart. "We've met, we've met, I swear." He pleaded, as she shook her head back and forth quickly.

"No, no, we haven't." Annabeth was shaking now, her voice quavering. Luke held her tighter.

"What? No…no…" Percy said frantically, looking to Grover and Thalia who were standing there, open-mouthed. "Wait! Wait!" Percy shouted, making Annabeth alarmed. He fumbled to pull out his wallet from his pocket, and flipped it open. There, in the front window, was Annabeth's photo, in which she was smiling sweetly. "Look, look!"

Annabeth drew back from the photo, appalled and cross now. "Look, I don't know who you are, and why you have a picture of me in your wallet, because that's really creepy. And I know you sent me a love letter, which was definitely a little weird. But I let it slide. But now, you show up at the doorstep, and ask me to hug you? I don't think so. You're lucky I didn't call the police. Now, if you don't mind," She took a deep shaky breath, and aggressively brushed her hair out of her face, her eyes blazing in that oh so familiar way. "I'd like it if you got the hell out of this house."

* * *

Percy walked, the winds billowing around him, making it unnaturally cold for the summer. The rain was pounding hard against the sidewalk, and it blended with the salty tears streaming down his face.

He didn't know what to feel anymore. It was as though he was empty, utterly and completely. Sure, he was crying, but he didn't know what for. Were they angry tears, sad tears, tears of confusion? The answer to that wasn't simple. Were they tears for himself or for Annabeth? Were the tears for everything, or for nothing? It certainly felt as though there was nothing left…not even Thalia or Grover. Percy had stormed out of the house, obeying Annabeth's command, but only because he wanted to hide the flood of tears threatening to break through. Thalia had stayed, for Luke, which Percy understood but didn't appreciate. However, when Grover followed him out of the door, Percy yelled at him to leave. Grover, shocked, and a little offended, left easily with six bitter words.

"I was only trying to help."

It was then that the city was suddenly overcast with thunderous and mysterious clouds that carried tons and tons of cold, hard water. They rumbled, and rain began to fall.

Percy had walked perhaps a mile now, and he didn't know where he was. He was simply heading for the lights in a distance, and he assumed that that was Times Square. Not that he cared where he was going.

As he walked, he thought. Why did Annabeth not remember him? Actually, why didn't Annabeth even like him? He had seen the repulsion on her face when he had said her name the first time, and right before he had left, her face was a mixture of fear and loathing – two things he knew that the old Annabeth would've never been in this situation. She didn't hate people easily – it took time, and a lot of irritating habits. She wasn't easily scared, either. She usually took charge, and faced the impending doom with a brave face. That was why he loved her.

Thalia's words replayed in his head. Had she been hit with an arrow of Eros? But, they usually made you love someone with the deepest depths of your heart. Could they work backwards?

Percy stopped abruptly, his brain working at twice it's normal pace. Could the arrows make you hate someone? It seemed as though there was an old Greek myth related to this situation, but he couldn't recall it well enough to relate it to his own life. He cursed under his breath, and wished Thalia was here.

Well, there was only one way to find the answer to his question.

Not even a block from Times Square, Percy made a split second decision. He turned sharply, and headed for 5th avenue, where the Empire State Building proudly stood.

* * *

Percy stood in the elevator, waiting, as it made its way up to the 600th floor. He shuffled back and forth in the tiny elevator, cursing it for going so unbearably slow. He bit his lip, thinking all the while, what he was going to do when he got to Olympus. The first thing he wanted to do was speak to Eros, but he had no idea where to find him. He supposed that his best bet would be to go to Zeus. He contemplated this again, and thought about how Nyx had said Zeus was 'helpless' and 'weak' at the moment. Percy shook his head – no, Zeus would be his best chance.

The elevator whooshed open to expose Mt. Olympus in all of its glory. It was just as impressive as Percy remembered it, with colossal marble pillars, countless fountains, and a shimmering golden sidewalk leading to the place where all of the gods met. That was his destination.

He walked, avoiding the gazes of the other immortals that lived there. They stared at him, their lovely faces curious. They knew he wasn't a mortal, but he, of course, didn't look like an immortal either. So, now they simply wondered which god or goddess was his father or mother?

As they gazed, Percy strode faster, and at last, came upon the enormous room where the twelve major gods and goddesses of Olympus were situated. The door swung open in a painfully slow and dramatic fashion. Percy slipped inside.

The room was vast, dome-shaped, with more massive marble pillars. It had a strange shine to it, as power itself was radiating from every corner. Percy walked in a few steps, and found that most of the chairs were empty, including Zeus' and his father's, whom Percy assumed was in his ocean kingdom below the surface of the sea.

"Percy Jackson."

Percy had never heard his name spoken with such contempt. He glanced around, his hand automatically fingering Riptide in his pocket, although he knew that it would have no effect on the immortals here.

There sat Annabeth's infamous mother, on her large throne that sat amongst the other twelve. She smiled at him, but the smile never reached her cold, grey eyes that resembled Annabeth's.

"Athena." Percy immediately bowed slightly – after all, she was a goddess of immense skill and power.

"Percy Jackson." Athena said once more, this time softer, but the disdain in her voice was still obvious. Percy narrowed his eyes a little, speculating why she was speaking his name like that.

"Yes?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Looking for somebody?" Athena asked smugly, as if she knew why he was here.

"Yes…" Percy said warily. "Where's Zeus?"

"Ah, my dear father." She said leisurely, lounging comfortably in her chair. "I assume you'll find him somewhere here on Mt. Olympus. Probably off in a corner where no one can find him."

Percy furrowed his eyebrows. "Why –"

Athena cut him off suddenly with a raised hand. She stood, towering above him, and approached him slowly, taking her time, with that haughty look on her face. "Poor Zeus can't do anything anymore. He's…helpless."

"What's going on?" Percy asked, backing up, as Athena came closer to him. Her eyes were set with a cruel determination that made Percy nervous – he couldn't defeat her, no matter how hard he tried.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough." Athena waved her hand, beckoning to something behind Percy. Percy turned his head carefully, not wanting to expose his back to Athena. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a muscular man, much older than Percy, perhaps around 25. He had soft golden curls, and his eyes were a sky blue color. But the strangest thing about him was a pair of wings that stuck out his chiseled back, enabling him to fly into the room fluidly.

Eros. This was notorious son of Aphrodite that threw love stories into turmoil.

"Eros." Percy said under his breath. But this didn't escape unnoticed by Athena.

"Oh, very good, Percy. I'm surprised you even know his name, what with the size of your brain." Athena smirked. "Well, I suppose you get your brain from your father."

Percy's eyes widened, and then immediately narrowed. How dare she? "Don't talk about my father that way." He retorted.

"Don't talk about my father that way." Athena mimicked in a high-pitched voice. She placed a hand on Percy's shoulder, and he could feel her sharp nails digging into his skin. She leaned in close, and whispered, "Boy, your father isn't here to protect you. I can say anything I want."

Percy crumbled under the pain of her hand, and fell to his knees, gasping. She let go, and raised an eyebrow, chuckling. "Oh, you gave up already. See, you're just like your father and your dear uncle…weak."

"Hey!"

Percy heard a new, deep voice echo out from behind one of the doors behind the circle of enormous thrones. The door was blasted open, and Percy shut his eyes and ducked his head as the debris scattered all over the room.

"I told you to stop doing that!" He heard Athena snarl.

"Oh, calm down! It's just a door." The man's voice snapped. "And I'm his uncle too. I am most certainly not weak."

Percy coughed as the dust cleared, and he opened his eyes carefully. Through the dust emerged a man, dressed in all black, with blazing eyes that were centered on Percy.

"Hello, Percy Jackson." Hades growled with an evil grin.

* * *

"Psst…Grover." Thalia hissed, giving Grover a look around the corner. She was standing in the middle of Luke's kitchen, pretending to get a glass of water. Grover was seated on the couch with Annabeth and Luke in the living room, watching an insanely boring war movie that Luke found fascinating.

"What?" Grover turned to face her slightly, confused.

"Come…here." Thalia said in a low voice, jerking her head. Grover scrunched up his face, but nevertheless, got up to talk to Thalia in the kitchen.

"I am…going to get a glass of water." Grover announced awkwardly to Luke and Annabeth, as Thalia slapped her forehead with her palm. When he finally reached the kitchen, Thalia smacked him on the arm.

"Ow, what was that for?" He whispered loudly, pouting, rubbing his arm – she had quite the power in her hand.

"For being an extremely obvious dummy." Thalia growled.

"Okay, well, what do you want?" Grover asked, rolling his eyes.

Thalia hesitated, and cast a short look over at the couch, making sure that Annabeth and Luke hadn't noticed. Luke was sitting there, an arm around Annabeth, staring at the screen, captivated. "Have you heard from Percy?" She asked quietly, her eyes concerned. She had been hoping that Percy had contacted Grover through their empathy link in the past hour.

Grover shook his head, and shrugged. "I'm sure he's fine."

Thalia groaned. "We don't know that! Don't you even care for your best friend?"

"Of course I do!" Grover exclaimed. "But what do you want me to do?"

"Contact him." Thalia said, her eyes pleading. "Please, Grover, he could be committing suicide by jumping off of the Brooklyn Bridge right now." Thalia wrung her hands. One of her major flaws – jumping to the worst case scenario.

"Percy wouldn't do that." Grover said dismissively.

"Well, his girlfriend just…forgot him." Thalia said incredulously. "That's pretty bad."

"Yeah, why do you suppose that is?" Grover said slowly, lowering his voice to the point where it was almost inaudible.

Thalia bit her lip, and then shook her head. "I don't know. I kept saying it was the arrow of Eros, but they don't make you forget someone or hate someone…they make you love someone."

"Well, she couldn't have just forgotten, like, 10 years of being with Percy." Grover said obviously.

Thalia threw him a look. "Oh no, didn't you hear? She just hit her head on a rock and got amnesia. But she remembers everybody else, just not Percy." Thalia said sarcastically.

Grover frowned. "If you're going to be like that, I'm just gonna leave."

"Ah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Thalia buried her head in her hands, and sighed deeply. "It's just…it's been an overwhelming for the past few days. Luke coming back, coming here, now this…"

"Hey, it's okay." Grover gave her a small, comforting hug.

"Thanks." Thalia closed her eyes. It was quiet for a few seconds, before Grover broke the silence with a tense question.

"Are you buying the reason for why Luke came back?" Grover asked suspiciously. Luke had explained why he was so suddenly back from the dead, while they had listened with shocked faces – they had never known Hades to give up a person from his Underworld.

Thalia chewed her bottom lip a little bit more, and gazed once more at Luke. "No…not completely."

"Yeah, it doesn't seem…likely." Grover said thoughtfully. They stood there staring at the couple on the couch for another few seconds, without speaking.

"Well," Thalia began. "You better try to contact Percy."

"Sure." Grover closed his eyes.

* * *

Percy was in a dark room. The only light in the room came from a small sliver of a window in the heavy door, which had been closed shut only a few minutes ago. Percy sat there, on the cold ground of the cell, helpless. His hands were chained to the wall, and no matter how hard he thrashed around, they would not give away.

"Ah!" Percy screamed, straining as much as his body could, without physically over-exerting itself.

"Screaming is not going to help, Percy." Athena's cruel eyes appeared in the window, framed by the golden light of Mt. Olympus outside.

"Why are you doing this?" Percy shouted at her, fuming. "Why do you want to kill me?"

"Oh, I don't want to kill you." Athena said softly, smiling. Somehow this didn't come as a relief to Percy. "I just want you to forget."

"Forget? Forget what?" Percy asked heatedly, irritated by her riddles.

"Actually forget would be an understatement." Athena said slowly, ignoring Percy's question. "I want you to hate."

"HATE WHO?" Percy bellowed, pulling on the chains even more.

Athena smirked. "Those chains are unbreakable, Percy. Don't try. You'll just hurt yourself."

"Answer my question!" Percy grunted, breathing heavily.

"Sure." Athena smiled. "I want you to hate my daughter, Percy Jackson. I want you to hate her with every ounce of your being. I want you to hate her so much that you'll never want to go near her again."

Percy gaped at her, mouth opening and closing. He was taking shaky breaths now, praying that she meant a different daughter other than the one he was thinking of.

"I want you to hate Annabeth." Athena smiled a harshly beautiful smile.

"Why?" Percy's voice broke, and his tears were falling rapidly to the floor. Hate Annabeth? How could he? That would be like hating a part of him. It would be like hating the most beautiful thing in his life, like hating the thing that brought him the most happiness in life. Because Annabeth was, truly and sincerely, all of that.

"Because you don't deserve her, you dirty little son of Poseidon!" She roared. "How dare you love my daughter, you filthy little sea urchin!" She breathed before continuing. "In a few minutes, once Eros is done making his lead-tipped arrow, you're going to hate Annabeth more than you would have thought possible."

"A lead-tipped arrow?" Percy willed himself to ask, although a part of him didn't even care anymore.

"Yes, stupid boy. Eros has two types of arrows – gold-tipped and lead-tipped." Athena explained, rolling her eyes. "Gold-tipped arrows make you love someone, and lead-tipped arrows make you hate someone."

"You used them on Annabeth." Percy whispered slowly, realization washing over him like an enormous, depressing wave.

"Yes. One gold-tipped arrow for Luke and a lead-tipped arrow for you. Finally getting it, Percy?" Athena laughed, and her eyes disappeared from the tiny window, leaving Percy to dwell on his miserable thoughts alone.

"WAIT!" Percy screamed after her, not done with his questions. Athena reappeared, an irritated look on her face.

"What?"

"How did you bring Luke back?"

"You haven't figured that out yet?" Athena raised an eyebrow. "Your lack of common sense amazes me."

"Just answer the question." Percy said, ignoring her jibes.

"Hades, stupid boy." Athena said. "He agreed to bring Luke back as long as he was allowed to come back to Mt. Olympus to be one of the twelve major gods. We're thinking about replacing your father." Athena smirked.

"Why bring Luke back?"

"Oh, Percy," Athena smiled a sickeningly sweet smile. "I have a heart. I wasn't about to let Annabeth live alone."

Percy stared at her, open-mouthed. "Why are you doing this?" He asked again blankly, his face wet.

"I told you why. You don't deserve her, and your father doesn't deserve to be powerful."

"I thought you two had worked it out…" He said weakly.

Athena shook her head, smiling. "Being an immortal, you can hold grudges for a very long time." With that, she left, and Percy heard the swishes of her dress disappear into the next corridor.

What had Percy gotten himself into?


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: Hey…sorry, it's been a few days. But you know…had a major writer's block and…uh…got all caught up in the excitement of 2011. So…HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope y'all have an awesome year!

Oh yay, we're back to Annabeth's perspective! Love her to death. Anyway, this is a really slow chapter. Saving the action for the next chapter! Keep reading, and thank you for reviewing and subscribing!

**xxanonymouswriterxx**: Yes, Athena is OOC, because I never really liked her.

* * *

Percy knew that the room he was in was completely, and impossibly dark, but he couldn't help seeing Annabeth's face in front of his eyes. He knew that the room was utterly quiet, filled with an unbelievably deafening silence, but he could hear Annabeth's harsh words echoing in his ears. He knew that nothing was touching him, save for the chains and the damp, hard floor, but he could still feel the traces of their last kiss on his lips.

He shut his eyes tightly, and it made no difference. The room was just as dark as it had been if his eyes were open. Athena had shut the window in the door before she left with a cruel smirk. She had left him to dwell on lonely thoughts that centered on Annabeth.

He had grown so used to her before she left. It was almost as if she hadn't been his girlfriend, but almost like his…habit. And she had been an addictive habit. She was his Annabeth, she always had time for him, she had always been next to him, and she had always been there to comfort him or tell him to "Man up, Seaweed Brain."

"This is all my fault." Percy whispered, shaking his head. But it was no use now – no one could see him, hear him, talk to him –

"_Percy?_"

Grover's glorious voice broke through Percy's hopeless thoughts.

"Grover!" Percy screamed his name out loud, his voice carried away into the darkness, unheard.

"_Gods, Percy, where are you?"_

"_Here, I'll show you." _

Percy desperately concentrated, and showed Grover the dark gloom before him.

"_Percy…I can't see anything."_

"_Exactly! Athena has me in a cell thing. And…and Hades is here!"_

"_What? What are you talking about Percy?" _The puzzlement in Grover's voice was understandable, but it frustrated Percy.

"_I'm on Mt. Olympus…" _He explained whatever he could, to the best of his ability. When he mentioned Athena's true intentions, he nearly broke down again, but kept his cool, with a lot of effort.

"_Oh, gods, Percy! Thalia and I will be right there."_

"_And what are you going to do, exactly?"_

"_Rescue your butt, what else?"_

"_Yes…but HOW?"_

"_Um…um…we'll improvise. You know how Thalia's good at that."_

"_Oh, gods, fine Grover. And…" _Percy hesitated.

"_What?" _

"_Could you bring Annabeth…somehow? Please?"_ Percy's tone was feeble, and pleading.

"_Dude…"_

"_I can fix this. I swear. Somehow."_

"_Okay, sure." _Grover sighed in his mind. _"We'll be right there."_

* * *

"Well…" Thalia looked up at Grover, eyes curious and worried. "What'd he say?"

"We have to leave. Right now." Grover said firmly, and headed out of the kitchen.

Thalia grabbed his arm, and pulled him back, but Annabeth and Luke didn't acknowledge it. "Grover! What happened?" She stared at him, furrowing her eyebrows. She chewed her bottom lip until the skin peeled off, because she was so worried about Percy's condition. Grover's face was giving it all away – his eyes were determined, a kind of serious that he hardly ever was. This scared Thalia, and her worst case scenario grew more gruesome as seconds passed. "What happened, Grover, tell me…"

Grover explained quickly, not even looking at her shocked face once. His eyes were trained on Annabeth and Luke, sitting, oblivious, in the living room. Grover's gaze flicked back and forth between them and the door while his mouth worked at record speed. He was simultaneously concocting a reason to leave, and explaining to Thalia in great detail.

"So…I was right." Thalia said slowly, stunned.

"Is that what you care about right now?" Grover said, irritated.

Thalia raised her eyebrows. "No. I'm just saying. C'mon, let's leave."

"Wait." Grover said, eyes focused on the couple on the couch. "I have a feeling we're not going to leave without some work. Remember…Percy asked for Annabeth."

Thalia looked at the couple, Annabeth's head resting blissfully on Luke's shoulder. Thalia shook her head, disgusted. It made her sick to know Annabeth was in love with Luke against her will. Sometimes gods went too far with things. "I'll get her to come." Thalia said solidly, and walked into the living room, putting on a happy façade, hiding her twisting, worried stomach.

"Annabeth?" Thalia said quickly.

Annabeth looked up at her, her grey eyes innocent and peaceful. "What?"

"Could you come to the bedroom for a second?" Thalia blurted out.

Annabeth's eyebrows contracted. "Sure." She said hesitantly, and stood up from Luke's comfortable grasp. Grover gave Thalia a nod, saying "Are you sure you can do this?" Thalia responded with a confident nod, and followed Annabeth into the bedroom.

It was beautifully furnished, with neutral colors in accordance with Luke's personality. Annabeth had clearly already put some girlish touches into the room, like a flower vase full of red roses, and a soft, orangey scent floating in the air. Annabeth sat on the bed, while Thalia leaned against the wall, not sure exactly where to start. Perhaps it would be best in this case to tell the truth, no matter how unlikely it sounded. Annabeth looked up at her quizzically, waiting for her to begin.

Thalia cleared the throat, as the clock ticked. "Um, Annabeth…" Annabeth stared at her, urging her to continue. Thalia coughed again, then immediately grew annoyed with herself – the more time she wasted, the more trouble Percy was going to get into. "Percy loves you."

"Don't mention his name, Thalia." Annabeth gritted her teeth.

"No, no, you don't understand!" Thalia said, flustered. "You love him, too!"

"Uh…" Annabeth stared at her. "I don't think so."

"Listen to me." Thalia sat down beside her. She couldn't help but notice that Annabeth moved away from her slightly, like Thalia was crazy or something. "You're under a spell."

"What?" Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Like Harry Potter or something?" She snorted.

"No." Thalia growled. "You've been hit by an arrow of Eros."

Annabeth gaped at her for a second. Thalia smiled a little, knowing from the look on Annabeth's face that she had broken through to the real Annabeth. "What?" Annabeth stammered out.

"You know you heard me. You just don't want to believe it." Thalia said calmly.

"No, I can't be. You're crazy." Annabeth scoffed, standing.

"Annabeth, believe me." Thalia sighed. "It's because of you that right now, Percy is locked up on Mt. Olympus."

* * *

Annabeth entered the living room, peeking around the door. Her eyes were swimming with burning tears. Luke was sitting on the sofa, gazing calmly at the TV screen. Grover sat next to him, and had instantly turned around with an urgent expression on his face when Annabeth had swung the door open. Thalia was behind her, with a comforting hand on her shoulder.

She couldn't believe what had happened. It was so sudden, like an avalanche had collapsed onto, bearing all of the world's weight. A rush of emotions had washed over her – confusion, annoyance, helplessness, and most of all…guilt. It because of her, all because of her. It was because of her that Percy was stuck up on Mt. Olympus. If only, if only, she hadn't left the wonderful life she had had in Chicago. Why had she left again? She couldn't even remember anymore. Percy had been a dream, the most amazing boyfriend anyone could ask for. He was sweet, loving, a little awkward, but so remarkable. Annabeth's eyes burned as she thought of his scruffy black hair, and stunning sea green eyes. Those eyes...

And then there was Luke.

He had come like a breeze with electric blue eyes, and a familiar smile, floating into her life, sweeping her off her feet. It had been so sudden, and it only took a few hours for her to fall in love with him. At the time she thought nothing of the rapid progress their relationship was making, but now that she knew…Annabeth shook her head, biting her lip, her eyes trembling. Even as she saw him now, his gorgeous eyes glazed, his face serene, her heart leapt towards him, thumping violently. She knew now, that that was the arrow's magic working on her. But all she wanted to do was kiss him, over and over again, until her lips swelled, and her heart would be content. But she knew she couldn't do this anymore. It wasn't possible. She couldn't live with Luke happily, knowing that Percy was somewhere suffering, hating her, against his will.

She had to leave.

"Luke." Annabeth's voice was weak, and it was quavering. "Sweetheart." Her voice broke – the word 'sweetheart' came out of habit. The arrow was still pulling on the strings of her heart.

"Yeah, baby?" Luke looked up at her, and his eyes immediately grew concerned seeing the wetness in her eyes. "What's wrong, sweetie?" He stood, and grasped her hand.

Annabeth shivered at his touch, much like the time they had met in Central Park. She didn't want him to touch her, to make the love stronger. "Luke." Annabeth said his name over again. A tear slipped from her eyes. Luke swiped it off quickly, and Annabeth shut her eyes tightly.

She didn't know if she could do this. How could she leave him? He had come back from the dead, agreed to live in Tartarus for the rest of eternity after death for her, comforted her, and loved her like Percy had.

Either way, no matter her decision, the guilt would follow her until she died. He'd come back…and now she was leaving.

"I have to go." Annabeth whispered, her eyes closed. She couldn't bear to look him in the eye now, oh, definitely not now. She didn't want to see the pain, the confusion, and the hurt in his usually bright eyes.

"What?" She heard his pained voice, and that was no better than seeing his eyes. Annabeth's heart tugged at him, pleading for her to stay. Her brain knew the truth, however, and it fought a strong battle.

"I have to go." Annabeth repeated, her voice gaining the slightest bit of confidence. "Percy needs me." She opened her eyes, and stared into his eyes, keeping her own blank and expressionless.

"What?" Luke said again.

"I have to go." This was the third time she had said this, and this time it really seemed to sink into Luke's brain.

"I can't let you do that." Luke said, somewhat frantically.

Annabeth's eyes narrowed. There was something in his tone, in his face, that made her suspicious. "You know, right?" She asked, her eyes cold.

Luke stared around her, his eyes flicking everywhere but her. "What – what are you talking about?"

"Oh my gods, you know!" Annabeth stepped back from him, disgusted. "How dare you let something like this happen?"

"It was for you. All for you!" Luke protested, his eyes hurt.

There it was – the guilt trip. Annabeth's heart stumbled, and she felt the tears returning.

But suddenly, her brain screamed.

"No, I have to go." She said firmly, blinking back tears quickly.

"Annabeth!"

And unexpectedly, she found her lips pressed to Luke's. It was a torturing kiss. His lips crushed hers, and there was such urgency to it, it was almost like he was pleading that something, _anything_, would make her change her mind.

"No, Luke, stop." Annabeth pulled back, moaning into his lips, but he continued to press. Finally, irritated, sad, and confused, she screamed, "STOP!"

Luke stared at her, misery apparent in his expression.

"I have to go." Annabeth said one last time, before swallowing and turning away. She picked up her jacket, and pulled the door open slowly. Thalia and Grover walked out, with a small acknowledgement of Luke – a tight hug from Thalia, and a pat on the back from Grover. Annabeth was the last out. Before shutting it behind her, she looked back one last time. His shoulders were slumped, his sky blue eyes empty, a frown to his lips. The sadness with which he was standing broke her, letting the tears loose.

But she wasn't going to give up on Percy now. Breathing deeply, she said good bye, with a stuttering voice. "B – bye." She slammed the door shut behind her, closing the chapter of Luke.


End file.
